Ray of Hope in Bihar as Six Beat COVID-19 in 48 Hours; Zero Positive Cases

Patna: There was a glimmer of hope amid all pervasive gloom as the number of active COVID 19 cases in Bihar plunged by nearly a quarter to 22 with the recovery of six patients while as no one tested positive for the deadly coronavirus in the last 48 hours, officials said on Monday.

More than 800 samples were tested during the period have been tested, an official said on Monday.

State epidemiologist Ragini Mishra told PTI that all the six discharged patients were admitted to the Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH), which has been dedicated by the state government to exclusively treat coronavirus cases.

These include two employees, including a nurse, of a private hospital in the city where they had contracted the contagion from a deceased patient who was admitted there before being rushed to AIIMS, Patna.

The deceased a 38-year-old man who had returned from Qatar a month ago and suffered from renal failure breathed his last on March 21, a day before test reports confirmed that he was also COVID 19 positive.

The female nurse was discharged on Sunday and the male employee on Monday, Mishra said.

In addition, four residents of Siwan district have also recovered fully, she said.

Altogether 32 people have so far tested positive for the dreaded coronavirus in Bihar. Three of them, including a female Patna resident with a foreign travel history, had recovered last week.

Mishra said none of the 297 samples tested during the day was positive.

Earlier, Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar had said on Sunday that the state reported zero positive case on a day when 537 samples were tested.

With nine of the 32 people afflicted with the disease having recovered, the resource-strapped state, grappling with a shortage of medical equipment which Chief Minister Nitish Kumar flagged last week during a video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, can breathe a bit easy.

The Principal Secretary, however, made it clear that there was no room for complacency and shot off a two-page note to the effect to all District Magistrates.

Sharing a screenshot of the missive on his official Twitter handle, Sanjay Kumar wrote We must screen all patients with influenza like illness and severe acute respiratory illness in public and private hospitals for COVID 19. All DMs and civil surgeons have been asked to do so. Request private hospitals to assist and support.

There have been fears of a spike in COVID 19 cases in the state, so far moderately affected by the calamity yet proactive in taking preventive measures, in the wake of return of a large number of migrants from other parts of the country after the nationwide lockdown was imposed.