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‘Bihar to offer ₹4 lakh to coronavirus deceased, incur treatment expense’
PATNA
PATNA
Emphasising on ‘social distancing’ as a potent way to contain the spreading coronavirus infections, chief minister (CM) Nitish Kumar on Monday announced that the victims of COVID-19 would be paid Rs 4 lakh as ex-gratia in case of their deaths.
“The state government will bear the expenses of treatment for coronavirus-infected persons, even as no confirmed case of the disease could so far be detected in Bihar,” said Kumar, while addressing members of the legislative council that was adjourned sine die as a precautionary step to check the pandemic.
The CM said that there was no need to fear, but to remain cautious and alert.
“The state government has heightened its apparatus to deal with the disease, which has so far claimed 3,217 lives across the globe and left 148 countries grappling with 1.69 lakh infected people,” said Kumar.
Citing measures taken by countries like such as Taiwan, Thailand, and Bangkok, which significantly checked the spread of COVID-19 by resorting to lockdown or social distancing, the CM advised the people to stay away from social gatherings and avoid going to crowded and public places.
Referring to the experts’ views, he also sought to dispel the necessity of using masks by healthy persons, saying that only infected persons needed it, as the disease is transmitted through droplets coming out of mouth of the sick persons during coughing and sneezing.
The CM said that elaborate arrangements had been made by the health department to fight the pandemic by setting up isolation wards at all medical colleges and hospitals. Steps are on to install 100 more ventilators in medical colleges and hospitals across the state. Intense screening of passengers coming from infected countries is being carried out at airports of Patna and Gaya, while 49 screening camps have been set up along the Indo-Nepal border to detect the cases of coronavirus infection.
Kumar further said that the state government officials and teachers were being trained to sensitise the masses about precautionary steps needed to contain the disease. The CM said the sitting of the state legislature might be resumed later if the crisis caused by coronavirus gets better.
Expressing his concern over untimely rains due to climate change, the CM said that the agriculture department had been assessing the damages caused to standing crops due to the unseasonal rains in different parts of the state in February and March.
Officiating chairman of the legislative council, Haroon Rashid, said that the decision to curtail the budget session was taken after a meeting of the business advisory committee, which was later affirmed by the members of all parties.
“During the 22 sitting so far in the budget session, as many as 1,190 questions of public interest were taken up and 197 were answered,” said Rashid.
