IGIMS nurse among 7 positive; cases up at 542 in Bihar

A nursing staff at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) was among two cases of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) reported from Patna Wednesday after

A nursing staff at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) was among two cases of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) reported from Patna Wednesday after a brief eight-day lull, taking the total number of cases to 542 across the state so far.

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One case from Agamkuan and another from Raja Bazar locality, where the IGIMS is located, were among seven cases reported during the day. A case each was reported from Purnia, Madhubani, Sheohar, Bhagalpur and Kaimur.

The source of infection in both the cases from Patna was unknown, said health officials.

The 28-year-old IGIMS nursing officer, who is pregnant, complained of abdomen pain, when she was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday morning. In keeping with hospital norms, before any investigation of in-patients, her swab sample was taken for Covid-19 test and she tested positive for the virus by evening, said hospital sources. The woman resides at the nursing hostel on the IGIMS campus.

Already, four paramedics and sanitation workers from the IGIMS have tested positive for the virus so far, said hospital sources.

A 21-year-old jeweller from Agamkuan had also tested positive for the virus. The young man had been suffering from influenza-like symptoms for the last 10 days, said health officials. He had been shuttling from one hospital to another, after visiting the Patna Medical College Hospital, before he finally landed at the Nalanda Medical College Hospital on Tuesday where he tested positive for Covid-19, the officials added.

With Patna in red zone, and most business establishments closed, health officials were clueless where the jeweller had contracted the infection from. He did not have any travel history either.

The state government had sought clarification from the Centre for classifying Gaya under the red zone, said Bihar’s principal secretary, health, Sanjay Kumar in a tweet. He, however, did not mention the reason for it.

Gaya has only six cases whereas Munger has 102, followed by Buxar (56), Rohtas (52) and Patna (46), which are in the red zone. The state government has classified the remaining 33 districts under orange zone.

Meanwhile, the government said it was stepping up testing capacity in the state. “We now have seven research laboratories to conduct RT-PCR (real-time polymerase chain reaction, a confirmatory test for Covid-19). We are going to begin CB NAT test at the Darbhanga Medical College Hospital, the IGIMS and the Tuberculosis Demonstration & Training Centre, Agamkuan,” said health secretary Lokesh Kumar Singh.

He said the government would also have testing facility through Truenat machines.

“We will get 15 Truenat machines through the tuberculosis division of the government of India. We will install them at medical colleges where RT PCR testing facility is not available. Besides, we will also deploy them at districts having high concentration of cases,” added Singh.

Forty six patients had recovered Wednesday, taking the total number of recoveries to 188 across the state so far, with 35% case recovery rate, said Singh.

The good sign for Bihar was that its case doubling rate had now decreased from four days to nine days. The number of Covid-19 cases had gone up from 143 to 277 between April 22 and 26. It has now taken nine days for cases to double from 277 on April 26 to 536 on May 5, as per data shared by Sanjay Kumar through a tweet.

The 542 Covid-19 cases were spread across 32 of Bihar’s 38 districts, with Munger topping at 102. It was followed by Buxar (56), Rohtas (52), Patna (46), Nalanda (36), Siwan (32), Kaimur (31), Madhubani (24), Gopalganj, Bhojpur (18 each), Aurangabad, Begusarai (13 each), Bhagalpur (12), West Champaran, Katihar (11 each), East Champaran (9), Saran (8), Gaya, Sitamarhi (6 each), Darbhanga, Arwal (5 each), Lakhisarai, Nawada, Jehanabad, (4 each), Banka, Vaishali (3 each), Madhepura, Araria, Purnea, Sheohar (2 each), Sheikhpura, Samastipur (1 each).