Fourth COVID-19 death in Bihar; tally reaches 481 with 15 fresh cases

Bihar registered its fourth COVID-19 death on Saturday and the total number of cases in the state rose to 481 with 15 fresh instances of the respiratory infection, a top official said.

The 45-year-old man who died on Saturday happened to be a lung cancer patient from Sitamarhi district and had suffered cardio-respiratory arrest. He was admitted to the NMCH hospital here two days ago, Principal Secretary Sanjay Kumar said.

On Friday, a 54-year-old COVID-19 positive patient from East Champaran, who also suffered from mouth and throat cancer, had died at the same hospital.

Incidentally, both these persons had travelled to Mumbai for treatment at the Tata Memorial Hospital known to specialize in cancer treatment. They were suspected to have contracted the virus in that city which has been the biggest cluster of COVID-19 cases in the country.

In late March and mid-April, one patient each had died at AIIMS, Patna where they had been admitted for treatment of other serious ailments but test reports suggested that they were infected with coronavirus as well. They were from Munger and Vaishali districts.

On Saturday, fresh cases were reported from Buxar, Kaimur, Saran, Katihar and Araria districts. With two fresh cases from Naya Bhojpur village, a hotspot from where most of the cases in Bauxar district have been reported so far, the total number of cases in the district reached 53, making it the second most affected in the state.

Munger has reported the maximum number of 95 cases so far. Rohtas is third with 52 cases.

Bhojpur and Kaimur districts, which share their borders with Buxar, reported six and three fresh cases respectively. Two of the patients in Kaimur happen to be police personnel. On April 25, four police personnel had tested COVID-19 positive in the district.

Katihar reported two fresh cases while Araria and Saran reported one fresh case each.

According to the state health department, nine people have been cured of the disease in the last 24 hours. The total number of patients who have recovered in the state so far is 107.

Till date, 25,724 samples have been tested. The outbreak of the virus has so far affected 30 of the state's 38 districts.