PATNA: Six people who had turned up at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s ‘Janata Darbar’ on Monday tested positive following which they were kept in isolation at Patliputra Sports Complex centre.
Nitish told reporters after the programme that a staff member involved in catering arrangements tested positive for coronavirus and hinted that his government might go in for restrictive measures to contain the spread of the viral disease.
This comes at a time when the eastern state logged 352 fresh cases on Monday. Among the infected, 75 were junior doctors of the Nalanda Medical College and Hospital in Patna. Till date, 87 doctors and health workers have been infected across the state.
Alarmed over the rising infection, Nitish convened a high level meeting on Tuesday to assess the situation in the state. However, his ‘Samajik Sudhar Abhiyan’ (social reform campaign) will continue.
“Since the decision had earlier been taken on the issue till January 5, we will hold a meeting on the same day to assess the situation. The decision about restrictions to check the spread of the virus will be taken at the meeting only,” Nitish said.
He said the reports from the districts have been sought for the purpose. “I have already told the officials concerned to seek reports from the districts so that we could know the actual status of cases.” .
Bihar's active caseload on Monday climbed to 1,385 on account of 344 fresh COVID-19 cases which included visitors at a programme of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
According to the health department, Patna district is bearing the brunt of the current spike in coronavirus cases.
Altogether 160 people here tested positive for the infection, six of whom were citizens who had come to attend "Janata Ke Durbar Mein Mukhyamantri", besides a staff member involved in catering services at the chief minister's secretariat.
The district now accounts for 698 active cases, more than half of the state's figure.
Patna is followed by Gaya which has an active caseload of 365 and where the number of fresh cases was 88, including former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi and 17 of his family members and personal staff.
On the brighter side, the state has not reported any COVID death for about a week.
Altogether 7,27,872 people have caught the contagion to date, out of whom 7,14,391 have recovered while 12,096 have died.
A high testing rate has been maintained by way of abundant caution.
The number of samples examined in the last 24 hours is more than one lakh.
The day also saw the state's first genome sequencing facility getting operational at the IGIMS hospital which is expected to help timely detection of Omicron.
The state has so far reported only one Omicron case - a 26-year-old resident of Patna who travelled to Delhi about a fortnight ago and caught the infection from a relative based abroad.
The day also saw the launch of vaccination for adolescents aged 15 years and above.
According to Chandrashekhar Singh, District Magistrate, Patna, 7,269 boys and girls of the aforementioned age group received the shots at 87 vaccination centres.
Former Bihar chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi has tested positive for COVID-19, a key political aide said on Monday.
Danish Rizwan, national spokesperson of the Hindustani Awam Morcha founded and headed by Manjhi, said the ex-chief minister was "safe" at his village in Gaya district.
"Manjhi had been unwell for some time. On Sunday, he got tested along with close family members and personal staff. Altogether 18 people have tested positive", said Rizwan.
Besides the 77-year-old leader, those testing positive for the infection include his wife Shanti Devi, daughter Pushpa Manjhi, daughter-in-law Dipa Manjhi and personal secretary Ganesh Pandit, said Rizwan.
Dipa Manjhi is married to Santosh Suman, who is a cabinet minister in the Nitish Kumar government.
The former chief minister is at his native village Mahkaar in Gaya district, which is the second most affected by the current spike after Patna.
The septuagenarian represents the reserved Imamganj seat in the assembly.
(With PTI Inputs)