COVID-19: 13 BSF personnel, 21 jail inmates in 245 new cases in Chhattisgarh

With 245 people, including 13 BSF personnel and 21 inmates of a central jail, testing positive for coronavirus in Chhattisgarh on Monday, the state's count of infections rose to 7,863, a health official said. The death toll climbed to 45 after two more persons succumbed to the viral infection, he said. Also, a total of 228 patients were discharged in the day, taking the number of recovered cases to 5,172, he said.

Of the fresh cases, 88 were reported from Raipur district, 50 from Bilaspur, 49 from Durg, 18 from Rajnandgaon, 14 from Balodabazar, five from Mahasamund and four each from Bemetara and Kabirdham districts, he said.

While two cases each reported from Gariaband, Janjgir-Champa, Koriya, Bastar and Kanker districts, one case each came from Raigarh, Balod and Surguja districts, he said.

Among the new cases in Bilaspur, 21 are prisoners lodged in the Bilaspur central jail, while five are jail guards deputed there," said Dr Pramod Mahajan, Chief Medical and Health Officer (CMHO), Bilaspur.

Thirteen personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) are among the new cases recorded in Durg and Kanker districts," an official of the paramilitary force said.

With the latest cases, the count of infections in the BSF reached 313 in the state. However, 158 of them have recovered from the disease, while one has died," he said.

The BSF is extensively deployed in Kanker district for anti-Naxal operations while it has its frontier headquarters in Bhilai (Durg district).

A woman is among two COVID-19 patients who died in the state on Monday, the health official said.

A 50-year-old man from Raipur was declared brought dead after being shifted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Raipur on July 25. His samples tested positive after his death," he said.

Similarly, a Bilaspur district-based woman, aged 35, who was suffering from HIV and HCV (hepatitis c virus) and later COVID-19, was referred from a private hospital there to medical college hospital on July 25, but she died the same day, the official said.

The state has now 2,646 active cases, as 5,172 people have been discharged after recovery, while 45 have died so far, he said.

Chhattisgarh, where the infection has spread in all the 28 districts, has recorded over 5,000 cases just in the last one month, the official said.

With total 2,275 cases so far, Raipur district tops the tally in the state.

Chhattisgarh's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 7,863, new cases 245, deaths 45, discharged 5,172, active cases 2,646, people tested so far 2,92,627.