Advertisement

Updated April 10th, 2020 at 06:12 IST

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar urges people to not hide travel history amid rising Covid-19 cases

As the total number of coronavirus cases in Bihar went up to 58, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday urged citizens not to hide their travel history.

Reported by: Navashree Nandini
Bihar
| Image:self
Advertisement

Bihar on Thursday evening reported 19 new Coronavirus cases, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 58. As number went up, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday evening urged citizens not to hide their travel history.  At a meeting where he reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the state, CM Kumar appealed to the people of the state -- "Do not hide your travel history, whether outside Bihar or abroad".

He also called for intensive screening of the places coronavirus patients might have come in contact with, and following of "full medical protocol in the areas that have been identified as hotspots". The chief minister instructed officials to speed up the process of tracing and testing contacts of COVID-19 patients. He reiterated the need for maintaining social distancing under all circumstances and hoped that people would stay at their homes as far as possible and take necessary precautions.

READ | Bihari diaspora reaching out to stranded migrants

Siwan - the hotspot

Siwan district emerged as a hotspot, accounting for 17 of the fresh cases. All belong to Raghunathpur block, which has been sealed by the local administration and from where close to 100 samples were collected and have been sent for testing. The 16 COVID-19 patients from Raghunathpur include a 10-year-old boy, three girls aged between 11 and 12, nine women in the age group of 19 and 50 and two men, aged 19 and 60.

According to Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar, all of them had caught the contagion from a coronavirus patient who had travelled to Oman. Besides, another 36-year-old male from the district, with a travel history to Dubai, tested positive for the virus. The total number of cases from Siwan has now reached 27 - close to half of the statewide aggregate of 58.

READ | Amidst lockdown, Leopard wanders 300 km from Valmiki Nagar Jungles to Bihar's Vaishali

Cases from Begusarai

The remaining two cases, both boys in their teens, have been reported from Begusarai. They are residents of a village in the Teghra block and are believed to have got infected by two youths of the same age group, who had tested positive on Tuesday. According to Begusarai District Magistrate Arvind Kumar Verma, none of the four boys was known to have any recent travel history, but they were said to have been interacting with clerics at a local mosque and samples were collected after the village head informed the police a few days ago that the two had developed symptoms. Verma did not rule out the possibility of a connection with the Tablighi Jamaat congregation.

In Nawada, where a man with a travel history to Delhi had tested positive for the infection on Wednesday, District Magistrate Yashpal Meena said information has been sought from the national capital as to whether the 38-year-old had taken part in the religious congregation last month.

READ | Paramedic attached to isolation ward in Bihar hospital assaulted by neighbours

Coronavirus cases in Bihar

According to the state health department, of the cases confirmed in Bihar so far, 17 have recovered while one patient has died. The recovered patients include six from Munger and five from Patna, leaving the two districts with zero active cases as of now. All cases from Munger were traced to the sole deceased patient of the state who passed away on March 21, suffering from renal failure, a day before test results showed he was also COVID-19 positive. Three hospitals in the state, one each at Patna, Bhagalpur and Gaya, have been dedicated to the treatment of coronavirus patients.

(with PTI inputs)

READ | Bihar CM Nitish Kumar to extend Lockdown in Bihar beyond 14th April; may exempt villages

Advertisement

Published April 10th, 2020 at 06:12 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo