On Saturday, Bihar Legislative Council chairman, Awadhesh Narain Singh was admitted to the AIIMS hospital in Patna after his swab samples tested positive for COVID-19. His wife, son and seven staff members too have tested positive. They have all been admitted to the hospital.
Now, swab samples have been taken from Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar,Deputy Chief Minister, Sushil Kumar Modi and Bihar Assembly Speaker, Vijay Kumar Chaudhury. Their samples will also be tested for COVID-19 as they had been in contact with Singh.
Singh had administered oath to nine newly elected members of the Council on July 1 in the Council Hall. The Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and the Speaker had been sitting next to him.
Alongside Nitish Kumar and Sushil Kumar Modi, several members of their office have also sent their samples for testing. This includes the Chief Minister's secretaries and six members of the office of the deputy CM.
According to Health Department officials, more than 100 people who had attended the swearing in ceremony of the MLCs have also been asked to facilitate the collection of their samples.They were present in the Council Hall on July 1. Some security staff members associated with the Council are also suspected of having contacted the virus, and their samples are also being collected.
Some ministers and legislators who were also present at the ceremony have been asked to allow Health Department personnel to collect their swab samples. All of them are above 60 and thus considered vulnerable to the novel coronavirus.
349 new COVID-19 cases have been recorded in Bihar, taking the total tally of the state to 11,466. More than 1200 of these cases are in Patna.
Patna District Magistrate, K Ravi on Saturday ordered a total lockdown in the Patna City sub-division. All shops have been asked to close their shutters and the movement of vehicles in the area has been suspended.
Also on Saturday, the administration created 18 containment zone in the area. The decision to declared a lockdown in the area was taken following discovery of over a 100 COVID-19 cases in last two days.
Incidentally, Takht Harmandir Sahib, the birth place of the tenth Sikh Guru is located in the area.
In Paliganj, 40 kilometres from Patna, the police on Saturday sealed eight colonies following the death of a groom due to the virus. The Police have registered a case against groom's father for violating the MHA guidelines. While he had obtained a permit for 50 members to be a part of the marriage party, over 450 were present during the marriage ceremony. Over 115 members of the marriage procession have been found infected with the virus.
