Two more test positive, total Covid-19 cases 66 in Bihar

Sheezan Nezami | TNN | Updated: Apr 14, 2020, 06:52 IST

Representative image

PATNA: Two more persons tested positive on Monday, taking the number of Covid-19 patients in the state to 66. Principal secretary (health) Sanjay Kumar said a 34-year-old man from Begusarai and another 40-year-old from Nalanda contracted the virus. Begusarai now have eight Covid patients. The Nalanda man had come from Dubai on March 21.
A man in his 20s, who worked at a private hospital in Munger, was the first Covid patient from Begusarai. Another 24-year-old patient from Begusarai had returned from Dubai. Two other teenagers who tested positive had allegedly visited a mosque on where foreign nationals from Indonesia stayed earlier.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 testing commenced at Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) on Monday. The fifth such centre in the state tested 13 samples on the first day, state health minister Mangal Pandey said. Sources said other hospitals will also be used as testing centres after getting ICMR nod.
Pandey held a review meeting with officials and discussed about the screening, testing and tracing of contacts of Covid-19 patients. He advised the officials to focus on Siwan, Nawada and Begusarai and get door-to-door screening done in the three districts. He also asked them to keep a record of people above 60 years in all the households and compile their detailed information.
Pandey claimed there were 17,926 PPE kits, 24,0475 three-ply masks and 85,437 N95 masks available in the state. He advised the officials to ensure sufficient stock of these equipment and medicines.
As per the information shared by principal secretary (health), 7199 samples had been collected for test till Monday morning and 412 of them were under testing process. As per the Indian Council of Medical Research date shared by historian and writer William Dalrymple and retweeted by Sanjay, Bihar’s testing rate stood at 48 per million compared to the same figure in Uttar Pradesh, 593 per million in Delhi, followed by 365 per million in Kerala, 298 per million in Rajasthan, 273 per million in Maharashtra, 115 per million in Uttarakhand, 103 per million in Gujarat and 72 per million in Madhya Pradesh. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were at the bottom of the list.