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Ahead of Bihar assembly polls, Patna registers highest spike in Covid-19 cases in last 2 months
Patna has 12 containment zones, with over 3,500 people residing in 438 households. The surge in Covid-19 infections was attributed to heavy influx of people due to the upcoming assembly elections and the festival season, said a senior health officer.
Patna with 392 new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday reported the highest single-day spike in cases in the last two months, raising fears of a pre-election and pre-festival surge in cases.
The 1,837 new cases in the state during the last 24 hours pushed the state’s total tally to 2,06,961 with 1,011 fatalities. Of these, Patna accounted for the maximum of 33,257 cases and 247 deaths.
Patna had reported 422 cases on August 19 that was its previous highest single-day surge in cases. The state capital’s death toll was 114 then. It has now gone up to 247. Prior to that, 399 cases were reported on August 13, when Patna’s toll was 91.
The surge in Covid-19 infections was attributed to heavy influx of people due to the upcoming assembly elections and the festival season, said a senior health officer, requesting anonymity.
“We have increased testing and are trying to motivate people who have tested positive to go in for home or institutional isolation. We are also increasing our information, education and counselling activities to educate people take precautions against Covid-19 in the upcoming festive season,” said Patna civil surgeon Dr Vibha Kumari Singh.
Patna has 12 containment zones, with over 3,500 people residing in 438 households.
Eight deaths were reported through the health department’s bulletin on Tuesday. Gopalganj reported two deaths while Buxar, Gaya, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Rohtas and Samastipur one each.
Besides, five deaths were reported at AIIMS-Patna during the last 24 hours, according to Dr Sanjeev Kumar, its Covid-19 nodal officer. Of the deceased, four were residents of Patna and one of Purnia.
As many as 1,100 patients had recovered, taking the total to 1,94,889, with a case recovery of 94.17%.
The state tested 1,41,294 samples on Monday, reporting 1,837 new infections. Of these, Sitamarhi reported 114 cases, Nalanda 98, Saharsa 66, Gaya 64, Araria 59, Madhubani 57, Muzaffarpur 55, Bhojpur 53, Katihar and Madhepura 52 each, West Champaran 51 among others.
Patna also topped in terms of cumulative cases at 33,257 and 247 deaths. Muzaffarpur with 9,280 cases and 36 deaths, Bhagalpur 8,149 cases and 65 deaths, Purnia 7,664 cases and 10 deaths, East Champaran 7,416 cases and 38 deaths and Madhubani 6,729 cases and 21 deaths were the other four districts with the maximum number of cases.
