Bihar’s COVID-19 tally reaches 21,558 with 1,385 new cases; death toll rises to 167

Patna district reported its biggest single-day spike of 378 cases, raising the total number of those infected to 2,880.

Bihar reported 10 more coronavirus-related deaths and 1,385 fresh cases on Thursday, taking the number of infections in the state to 21,558, the state health department said.

In the last 24 hours, four fresh deaths were reported in Patna district, followed by two in Muzaffarpur and one each in Bhagalpur, Gaya, East Champaran and Purnea.

The new fatalities have taken the toll to 167, with Patna accounting for the highest number of 27 deaths, followed by Bhagalpur (14), Darbhanga and Gaya (10 each), Muzaffarpur (eight) and Begusarai, Nalanda, East Champaran and Samastipur (seven each) among others.

Patna district reported its biggest single-day spike of 378 cases, raising the total number of those infected to 2,880, according to a bulletin issued by the state health department.

The district, which also covers the state capital, has an alarmingly high number of 1,315 active cases, the bulletin said.

Other districts reporting fresh cases were Nalanda (93), Muzaffarpur (68), Siwan (63), Bhagalpur (55), Bhojpur (54) and West Champaran (53). In terms of total number of COVID-19 cases, Patna is followed by Bhagalpur (1,318), Begusarai (1,014), Muzaffarpur (968) and Siwan (919).

Altogether, 14,101 people have recovered so far. The state’s recovery rate is 65.41 per cent, a drop of more than 10 per cent points in a week.

More than 5,000 cases have been added to the state’s tally in the last four days.

In view of a rapid spurt in cases, a 16-day complete lockdown came into force across the state on Thursday.

Meanwhile, at a high-level meeting to review the situation, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed satisfaction over the state achieving the target of 10,000 tests per day.

He, however, asked Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar to raise the testing capacity to 20,000 tests per day.

He said the state’s recovery rate was still better than the national average and urged people to avoid panic but remain vigilant and observe norms like wearing of masks and maintaining physical distance.

State minister Ashok Choudhary, addressing a webinar on how Bihar was tackling the pandemic, said the recent spurt in the state’s COVID tally came in the backdrop of an unprecedented spike on the national level.

“We were ready for the challenges as scientists had predicted a sharp rise in July,” he said.