Bihar: COVID-19 death toll reaches 198; positive cases rise to 28,564

Eleven more people succumbed to coronavirus in Bihar, raising the death toll to 198, while 1,109 fresh cases took the state’s infection tally to 28,564, the health department said on Tuesday.

Of the 11 fatalities, three were reported from Patna, two each from Bhojpur and Lakhisarai districts, and one each from Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Nalanda and Saran, the department said in a bulletin.

Although the day’s tally saw a jump of 1,109 fresh infections, the department said the figure included cases from the past two days, which were not updated earlier.

Till date, 18,741 patients have recovered from the disease, 1,206 of them in the last 24 hours. Besides, there are 9,624 active coronavirus cases in Bihar.

So far, Patna has recorded the highest number of 31 COVID-19 deaths. The districts which have reported at least 10 deaths are Bhagalpur (17), Gaya (13) and Darbhanga (10), the bulletin said.

In terms of the overall number of confirmed cases till date, Patna again tops the list with a tally of 4,024. Other districts that reported a high number of cases include Bhagalpur (1,780), Muzaffarpur (1,267), Siwan (1,121), Nalanda (1,107) and Begusarai (1,090).

The number of tests conducted during the last 24 hours is 10,303, while that of samples tested till date is 3.98 lakh, it said.

Meanwhile, Information and Public Relations Department (IPRD) Secretary Anupam Kumar said antigen testing began on July 18 at certain specified locations in Patna.

The government has now decided to extend the facility of carrying out antigen testing at all sub-divisional hospitals, which would be extended further up to the level of primary health centres (PHC) in a week, Kumar said.

On-demand antigen testing has begun from Tuesday at all sub-divisional hospitals.

Kumar said the health department has been given a target to start on-demand antigen testing at all PHCs by the end of this week so that all symptomatic patients can get themselves tested at the nearby PHCs.

Coronavirus patients can now get themselves treated at private hospitals, he said.

District magistrates have been authorised to take a decision on allowing private hospitals to treat such patients in their respective districts.