Second Covid death in Bihar, tally at 481

PATNA: Bihar reported its second Covid-19 death in as many days when a patient, suffering from lung cancer, died in Patna Saturday in what was the fourth reported

PATNA: Bihar reported its second Covid-19 death in as many days when a patient, suffering from lung cancer, died in Patna Saturday in what was the fourth reported fatality to the fast spreading contagion in the state.

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A 45-year-old male from Sitamarhi, admitted at the Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH) on April 30, died on Saturday due to co-morbidity, said its superintendent Dr Nirmal Kumar Sinha.

His 40-year-old spouse, who also tested positive for the virus, is undergoing treatment at the NMCH, after being admitted there on April 30, said Dr Mukul Kumar Singh, NMCH epidemiologist.

“The cancer patient deteriorated very fast. He became unconscious last night and we believe the patient suffered brain metastasis (development of secondary malignant growths). He did not show typical Covid-19 symptom of severe acute breathlessness either last night or before his death this morning,” said Dr Sinha.

“The cancer patient was undergoing treatment at the Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), Mumbai. Our doctors did not interfere with the TMH line of treatment for cancer, except for treating him for coronavirus,” added Dr Sinha.

A case of terminal stage lung malignancy, the patient had returned from TMH, Mumbai, to Sitamarhi on April 28 and admitted at NMCH on April 30, said Bihar’s principal secretary, health, Sanjay Kumar in a tweet.

Bihar, with a case fatality rate of 0.84%, still fared better than the national average of 3.2%, which accounted for 65% male and 35% female till Thursday.

All the four Covid-19 deaths in Bihar are of male aged 38, 35, 54 and 45 from Munger, Vaishali, East Chamapran (Motihari) and Sitamarhi districts, respectively. All of them had co-morbidity, with two patients suffering from renal failure and two others from cancer of the oesophagus and lungs, said health officials.

Meanwhile, 15 new cases of coronavirus were reported Saturday, taking the total number of cases to 481 in the state so far.

Six cases were reported from Bhojpur, three from Kaimur, two each from Buxar and Katihar, and one each from Saran and Araria.

The 481 Covid-19 cases were spread across 30 of Bihar’s 38 districts, with Munger topping the list at 95. It was followed by Buxar (53), Rohtas (52), Patna (44), Nalanda (36), Siwan (30), Kaimur (27), Gopalganj, Madhubani, Bhojpur (18 each), Begusarai (11), Aurangabad (8), Saran (7), Gaya, Sitamarhi (6 each), Bhagalpur, Darbhanga, West Champaran, East Champaran (5 each), Lakhisarai, Arwal, Nawada, Jehanabad, Katihar (4 each), Banka, Vaishali (3 each), Madhepura, Araria (2 each), Purnea, Sheikhpura (1 each).

So far, 107 patients of coronavirus had been discharged after recovery from government facilities in the state.

Bihar, with a case recovery rate of 22% was marginally behind the national average of 25% on Thursday.

Of the 107 recoveries, the NMCH topped the list with 64. “Our recovery rate of asymptomatic cases or those having mild symptoms of coronavirus, with no co-morbidity is almost 100%,” said Dr Kumar.

Seven patients had recovered from the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College Hospital in Bhagalpur, two from the Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College Hospital in Gaya and one from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Patna. Besides these four dedicated Covid-19 medical college hospitals in the state, patients had also recovered were discharged from government facilities in Gopalganj, Chapra, Siwan, Nawada, Begusarai and Nalanda.

After its initial order of March 13, the state health department Saturday also extended its order cancelling leaves, other than study and maternity, of its healthcare personnel till May 31 in its fight against the coronavirus pandemic.