
Bihar reports 7th Covid-19 death; 2 nurses among 4 who test positive in Patna
Bihar on Wednesday reported its seventh death of a coronavirus patient, as migrant workers contributed to more than one-third of the total cases, with the virus spreading to cover the entire state late on Tuesday.
Fifty-three people, including two nurses — one from the Nalanda Medical College Hospital (NMCH), a dedicated Covid-19 hospital, and another from the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), both in Patna — also tested positive, while a 56-year-old woman, suffering from cancer of gallbladder and infected by the virus, died at the NMCH on Wednesday.
This was Bihar’s first female fatality to the Sars-CoV-2 virus, with co-morbid conditions, as the total number of cases swelled to 932.
A resident of Ashiana-Digha More, the NMCH nurse had come in contact with two Covid-19 patients during the course of their treatment at the hospital, said NMCH medical nodal officer, Dr Ajay Kumar Sinha.
Five health personnel at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) in Patna have already tested positive for the virus so far, the latest being a nurse on Wednesday. The nurse who stays on the hospital campus, used to reside with another nurse who had previously tested positive and had to terminate her pregnancy due to some gynaecological complications.
The two nurses were among the four people to have tested positive in Patna. Nine other cases were reported from Nawada, seven from Bhojpur, six from Bhagalpur, four each from Siwan and Banka, three each from Begusarai, Rohtas, Khagaria and Muzaffarpur, two from Gopalganj and one each from Madhubani and Kaimur.
Around 130 people reported positive on Tuesday in what was the biggest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases since March 22, when Bihar reported the first three cases of the fast spreading contagion.
As of Tuesday, 343 Covid-19 cases were reported last week, according to government data shared through a tweet by its principal secretary, health, Sanjay Kumar.
MIGRANTS LEAD SPIKE IN CASES
The government attributed the sharp increase in the number of cases to the return of migrants from other states.
“Of the total Covid-19 cases, 332 are those who came to the state from within India during the lockdown period. Of them, 277 people came after May 3 (lockdown 3.0),” said Bihar’s health secretary Lokesh Kumar Singh.
Singh said of the 277, most had come from Delhi (78), followed by Gujarat (71), Maharashtra (57), and West Bengal (20) and Haryana (13).
He also said the percentage of cases testing positive as against the samples tested, had gone up of late.
“As of now, 2.32% of the total samples tested (39,149) have turned positive. This figure used hover between 1.7%-1.8% until recently, but has shown an increase since the migrant workers have begun returning home in an organised and structured manner. The increase in number of cases is the outcome of the random tests we have been conducting on them,” added Singh.
Bihar’s concern may be far from over as over 4.27 lakh migrants are still expected to come by 267 additional Shramik Express trains.
“Till May 11, we had received 1,37,401 migrant workers by 115 special trains for them. We are now planning to run 267 more trains, which are expected to ferry an additional 4,27,200 passengers. Together, we will receive 5,64,600 migrant workers. This is not the final figure on migrant workers expected to reach Bihar from outside the state,” said Anupam Kumar, secretary information and public relations department (IPRD).
Over 85,500 migrants are expected to return to Bihar between Wednesday and Thursday.
“We transported 34,629 passengers by 25 trains today and expect another 50,910 passengers by 34 trains tomorrow,” said Kumar.
He also clarified that the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the state was not due to increased testing of samples, but because of the home-coming of migrant workers.
QUARANTINE PARAMETERS
Around 1.89 lakh people, mostly migrants, were staying for 21 days in 4,163 block quarantine centres, set up to curb the large-scale spread of the virus if they were to directly return to their respective villages.
Spelling out the different parameters set by the government for quarantining people coming from outside the state, he said students coming from outside the state, including Kota, had been allowed home quarantine, as many of them were minors and girls.
“Those returning from abroad will have to stay at institutional quarantine centres on payment basis. The government has already identified hotels in Gaya and Bodh Gaya, where international passengers coming to the state will be quarantined,” added Kumar.
Normal train passengers would not be quarantined as they were coming under relaxation measures after proper screening at the station of origin, he added. The government re-started limited train operations from Tuesday.

Disagreeing with govt is not sedition, says SC
- India’s sedition law has an interesting past — it was introduced by the British in 1870, decided to be dropped from the Constitution in 1948 after discussions of the Constituent Assembly.

Centre plans tourism push to mark 75 years of Independence
- India will also promote tourism by celebrating 2022 as the Visit India Year through a promotion campaign highlighting India’s strengths like heritage, culture, art, wellness and yoga.

2 held for murder of sexual assault survivor’s father
- The ADG has constituted teams of police personnel from Aligarh to assist the Hathras police.

Teen held for murder of girl after rape bid
- The incident took place on Sunday afternoon, when the girl went to a wheat field, owned by the family of the accused, to collect fodder and water.

Only Centre can enforce new digital media rules: I&B ministry to states
- The provisions under the new rules relate to the code of ethics for digital news publishers, setting up of a grievance redressal system and the requirement of disclosure of information to Centre, the ministry said.

Spectrograph designed for Uttarakhand telescope
- The instrument will support the 3.6 metre Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT) in Uttarakhand, an official release from the department of science said on Wednesday.

‘Ceasefire need of the hour... desirable for both India, Pak’: Lt-Gen BS Raju
- Lt-Gen BS Raju said a quiet LoC will allow us to address the challenge of terrorism in a focused manner.

ED begins probe against Franklin Templeton
- The central agency has registered a case on the basis of an FIR registered by Chennai Economic Offences Wing in September last year.

Experts slam claim that human activity not behind Chamoli disaster
- Dhyani added that the burden on the ecology due to construction on Himalayan slopes made the region prone to disasters.

Supreme Court issues notice on Gautam Navlakha’s plea for default bail
- Navlakha claimed in his petition filed through advocate Shadan Farasat that the 90-day period for filing of charge sheet was over and he was entitled to default bail under Section 167(2) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

GJM leader close to Bimal Gurung arrested under POCSO in Sikkim
- Lama was being considered as the GJM candidate for the Kalimpong assembly seat in the coming polls later this month.

Centre differs with SC on additional courts for cheque bounce cases
- Unhappy with the response, the bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) SA Bobde asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to appear in the case along with Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Vikramjeet Banerjee, who presented the note to the Court.

Man in Maharashtra wanted to ride horse to office to overcome spinal problem
- The officer withdrew his request after an orthopaedic surgeon said his purpose would not be served by buying a horse.

India signs pact with Philippines for supply of BrahMos missile
