Four more test positive in Bihar, Covid-19 tally 147

Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar said the patients included three women aged 60-68 years and a 30-year- old man, all of whom are residents of Jamalpur block in the district.

Four more people tested positive for COVID 19 in Bihar on Thursday, all residents of a coronavirus hotspot in Munger district, taking the tally to 147, a top official said.

Medical workers collect swab from patients suspected of Covid -19 infection during lockdown, at Patliputra sports stadium, Kakarbagh, in Patna, Bihar, India, on April 22, 2020. (Parwaz Khan / Hindustan Times)

Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar said the patients included three women aged 60-68 years and a 30-year- old man, all of whom are residents of Jamalpur block in the district.

Jamalpur has accounted for over a dozen cases in the past one week, and most of these have been linked to a 60- year-old vegetable seller who had travelled on foot to and from Bihar Sharif in Nalanda district last month to attend a Tablighi Jamaat congregation.

Both Munger and Nalanda now account for 31 cases each, making them the two worst affected in the state.

Meanwhile, six patients from Munger have recovered and one has died. Nalanda still has 29 active cases.

The total number of active cases now stands at 103.

Two patients, including one from Vaishali district, have died while 42 have recovered.

Out of the 38 districts in the state, 17 have reported COVID 19 cases though besides Nalanda and Munger, only Siwan (29) and Patna (16) have recorded cases in double digit.

The state reported its first couple of cases on March 22 and has been witness to a steep rise in the incidence since Sunday. The number of cases reported since April 19 is 61, according to figures made available by the state health department.

The total number of samples tested so far stands at 13,843, the department said.