News Analysis India

Tag: Bihar COVID cases

  • ‘Even the floods didn’t deter us’: Top Bihar official on state’s new COVID vaccination record

    Express News Service

    PATNA: Bihar has yet again set a record for single-day COVID-19 vaccinations. On Tuesday, the state health department inoculated over 27 lakh persons across Bihar including districts that were affected by the floods.

    In a mega vaccination drive launched to achieve the target of “six crore people in six months”, the health department has set up several vaccination sites across Bihar. Pratyay Amrit, additional chief secretary of health and the man behind this drive, spoke to The New Indian Express correspondent from Patna Rajesh Kumar Thakur. 

    Q. How was Bihar’s performance in the mega vaccination drive conducted on Tuesday?

    Pratyay Amrit (PA): It was a record of sorts. By vaccinating 27,21,935 persons on Tuesday alone, we left behind states like Uttar Pradesh (15,46,817), Andhra Pradesh (12,30,517), West Bengal (12,24,562) and Madhya Pradesh (9,54,668). We are working on a mission mode to fully vaccinate the state by achieving a first-ever target of ‘six crore in six months’. We hope this comes true when people turn up spontaneously at vaccination sites and those at the health department keep their spirits high to accomplish this goal. On the national level, India has a record of 1,32,45,266 people who were vaccinated in a single day.

    Q. At a time when at least 17 districts are reeling under the floods, how is your department managing the mega vaccination drive?

    PA: The drive is uninterrupted even for districts under floods. Our department has introduced vaccination units on boats which transport health workers to flooded areas to inoculate those living in these areas apart from people taking shelter in relief camps. These teams also accompany doctors to meet any medical emergencies. The health department is also running Tika Express vans which travel to the interiors of the districts. These vans are receiving a good response from people. 

    Q. How many sites did the department set up in Bihar to ramp up the vaccination on August 31? Is this mega drive the first ever in the state? 

    PA: Yes, this was the first such drive in the state. On August 31, more than 10000 vaccination centres were set up. These were manned by 13000 health workers and 15000 data operators and other personnel. Earlier last month, on August 5, 9,26,000 people were vaccinated. On the occasion of International Women’s Day in March, 2,02,137 people were vaccinated and 1,35,575 people were vaccinated on March 12. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and health minister Mangal Pandey, who continued to motivate the health workers, have also congratulated us for setting this record.

    Q. Apart from vaccination, what is the status of Bihar on the testing front and detection of fresh COVID cases as of now?

    PA: Bihar has tested over 4.18 crore people so far and in the last 24 hours, 1,48,989 tests were conducted. Bihar has so far conducted 4,18,45,097 COVID tests. As far as the new cases are concerned, only eight new infections were detected in the last 24 hours across five out of 38 districts. The recovery rate has reached 98.65% with only 99 active cases. Of these the number of those under treatment include 18 in Saharsa, 16 in Patna and 10 in Madhepura. Out of 725708 testing positive since 2020, 715955 have recovered. The number of deceased stands at 9,653 persons.

    Q. What is the response of people towards vaccination since the state has reported hesitancy?

    PA: The response is more than encouraging. So much so that we had to set up additional camps. A number of these sites in the urban areas had to work till late in the night to vaccinate residents. Giving an example, in Arwal district, when schools reopened, many students motivated their parents to get the vaccine. After this, many elders came forward and took the jab. Several vaccination sites turned into fair like sights with vendors coming forward to sell items to those queued up to get the vaccine.Vaccination in Bihar has received a festival-like enthusiasm. “Hum honge kamyab ek din” (we will be successful one day) in making Bihar fully vaccinated.  

  • Bihar CM Nitish Kumar announces COVID-19 unlock norms

    By ANI

    PATNA: In view of the improvement in the COVID-19 situation, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday said that shops, malls, religious places will open normally and cinema halls at 50 per cent capacity.

    Taking to Twitter, Bihar Chief Minister said, “The status of COVID-19 was reviewed. In view of the improvement in the situation of corona infection, all shops, establishments, shopping malls, parks, gardens and religious places will be able to open normally.”

    He also said that with the permission of the district administration and with all the required precautions all types of social, political, entertainment, sports, cultural and religious events can be organised.

    “All universities, colleges, technical educational institutions and schools (from class I to XII) as well as coaching institutes will also open normally. The examinations can be conducted by the universities, colleges, schools of the state,” said the Chief Minister.

    Meanwhile, cinema halls, clubs, gyms, swimming pools, restaurants and eateries (with visitors) will be able to open with 50 per cent capacity.

    He further urged people to take Bihar to take precautions.

    “But in view of the possibility of the third wave, it is necessary for all of us to take precautions by following appropriate COVID-19 behaviour,” he added.

    Complete lockdown in the state was imposed on May 5 after the state witnessed a surge in COVID infections.

    Bihar, one of the worst-hit states in the country, has been reporting a decline in daily COVID-19 cases.

    As per the state health ministry, Bihar currently has 101 active COVID-19 cases. 

  • Bihar reports just 11 new COVID-19 cases, officials say steps to quell pandemic paying off

    Express News Service

    PATNA: Officials in Bihar say that measures taken to quell the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic are paying off, with only 11 new cases reported in the state in the last 24 hours, of which four were from Patna and the rest from six other districts on Friday.

    Amid the dwindling cases of COVID-19, Patna and other districts of Bihar have figured in the latest list of the top performing 754 districts of the country in terms of vaccination, with the state capital ranking 10th.

    Additional chief secretary of the health department Pratay Amrit — the man behind the success working under the guidelines of CM Nitish Kumar and the health minister — said that the state focused on tracing, testing and treating (T-3) approach in mission mode.

    “We intensified testing along with promoting people’s adherence to safety protocols through various modes of communication. Results started coming when the percentage of people wearing masks rose to nearly 80-90,” Amrit said, adding that mass vaccinations across both rural and urban areas were accelerated.

    Even now when many of state’s districts are under floods, vaccinations continue through boat ambulance-cum-vaccination units in districts like Khagaria, Patna and others.

    Amrit said initially a bit of hesitancy for vaccination was witnessed among the people but when the myths and fears were dispelled, a massive turnout has been seen across the state for the jabs.

    “It shows that the level of awareness has grown among the people on the benefits of vaccination. You will also be surprised to see the high women’s turnout for the vaccination,” he said, adding that despite the drastic fall in new cases, the state health department has not turned lax in keeping a vigil on the pandemic.

    Asked about incidents of wrong names of vaccines mentioned in the certificates, Amrit said such technical mistakes would be fixed. It may be recalled that Shubham Thakur and Shivam Thakur, both of Hajipur, were administered with first doses of Covishield but Covaxin appeared on their provisional certificates causing problems to them in getting the second doses administered. The two youths have still not been administered the second doses.

    On being asked how the state is prepared on the oxygen front amid apprehensions of a third wave looming large, he said that 122 PSA oxygen plants are being installed and the state would have no shortage of oxygen. “We have also planned to set up pediatric units in 36 hospitals equipped with oxygen and other medical facilities for children,” he said.

    He also said the state education department is ensuring proper adherence to safety protocols in schools.

    In the last week, no death due to COVID-19 has been reported. Amrit said the recovery rate has gone up to 98.63% with only 168 active cases under treatment in the state.

  • Bihar: Children orphaned by Corona start getting financial assistances

    Express News Service
    PATNA: The Dadhichi Dehdan Samiti is the first such organisation in the country that has started giving “maintenance assistance” of Rs 500 for the next 3 years to 582 children, who have become orphaned during the second wave of the Covid pandemic in Bihar. 

    In the next one month, the social organization has announced to provide monthly financial assistance to 1000 children who suffered after the deaths of their parents.

    The Chief Patron of Dadhichi Dehdan Samiti, Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday speaking to the media said, “As per a decision taken earlier by the committee, each of 582 children, rendered orphans by the Covid-19, will be given Rs 500 per month for the next 3 years as the maintenance assistance”. 

    Modi said that Dadhichi Dehdan Samiti in Bihar is the first such social organization in the country, which has initiated such assistance for the maintenance of children, orphaned after the death of either of their parents due to corona. 

    A total of 850 children can be helped through this initiative. In Bihar, a total of 9606 people have lost their lives d during the first and second waves of the Corona pandemic. As per the official figure, 1,624 children have been rendered orphans due to the death of either of the parents. The number of children who have lost their fathers due to Covid-19 is 1286, while the total number of children who have lost their mothers due to Corona is 302. 

    “There are only 36 children in Bihar whose parents both have died of corona”, Modi said.

  • Patna slums record zero Covid positivity in second wave

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Not a single Covid-19 case was reported from the slums of Patna during the second wave, whereas a huge number of cases came from VIP areas. Urban areas of Patna accounted for more than 70% of cases reported from the entire district.

    A study by retired IAS officer KC Saha, published by the Patna-based Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI), reveals this interesting fact that “none of the slums  in Patna reported  a single positive case of Covid-19”. The study titled “Learning From Covid-19 cases — A Sociological Study of Patna District, Bihar”, quoting  executive officers of Patna Municipal Corporation, further states that of 7,300 sanitary staff, who mostly live in slums with their families, only two or three tested positive.

    Asked what is the reason, Saha told this daily: “It is a matter of scientific probe but people who live in slum pockets are said to have stronger immunity than those who live in non-slum areas in comforts. It is a fact that none of the Patna slums reported a positive case”.

    Saha, who served as chairman of Bihar Public Service Commission and had been the development commissioner, also found in his study that the virus in Patna did not spread entirely due to the large number of returning migrant labourers. Rather, it was caused by social functions and lack of awareness on preventive measures among the public.

    In the study, Saha has warned that the infection can again rise during during the festivals months in October-November, when a number of people return home from other states.After interviewing nearly 200 Covid patients, Saha found that 90% were in home isolation and recovered in about three weeks. He has also recommended strengthening of the health infrastructure, including paediatric health infrastructure, in view of a possible third wave.

    He suggested that disease surveillance and laboratory testing infrastructure should be ramped up, other than creation of a public health management cadre, data management in health facilities involvement of panchayats and many other measures.

  • Bihar’s JD-U to felicitate workers who help achieve 100 per cent COVID vaccination in their areas

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Bihar’s ruling JD-U has decided to felicitate its workers who help attain 100 per cent vaccination in their respective areas.

    Announcing this on Sunday through a virtual meeting, the national president of JD-U, RCP Singh, called upon party workers to ramp up vaccinations across their areas on a mission mode.

    “Now, encouraging people in rural areas to get inoculated is the need of the hour, and our party, which is committed to development with justice and prosperity, has decided to take it up as a political mission,” he said, interacting with 1 lakh workers through a virtual conference from Patna.

    Referring to the impending third wave of coronavirus, he said that vaccination is the only way to curb it and appealed to everyone to cooperate in the government’s campaign while reassuring them that the jabs are safe.

    The JD-U president asked all officials of the party to take a pledge to get as many people as possible vaccinated and conduct campaigns at the booth level in their areas, under the care and support of the party.

    Singh also lauded CM Nitish Kumar’s efforts of have been able to prevent deaths due to starvation amid the ongoing pandemic.

    “It is a matter of pride for us that not a single death occurred due to hunger in Bihar amid the pandemic. We are also grateful to all the medical workers, who have served and are continuing to do so, without worrying about themselves.  In the hour of crisis, farmers and labourers have been instrumental in ensuring that there was no shortage of grains, fruits, vegetables, milk during the epidemic,” he added

    Apart from Singh, a panel of four senior doctors also addressed the conference informing the workers on how to create health awareness against coronavirus.

    Dr Ranjit Singh, based in England, spoke about home treatment options after contracting covid-19, while Dr Sunil Kumar Singh shed light on the various post-covid complications. Dr Ritesh Runu of IGIMS spoke about the inoculation process, and Dr. Rashmi Thakur, of Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi, addressed the various misconceptions surrounding the virus.

    Party state president Umesh Kushwaha also attended the meet.

    ALSO WATCH:

  • UNICEF launches campaign to curb COVID spread in rural Bihar’s flood-prone districts

    Express News Service
    PATNA: UNICEF with the support of its NGO partners has rolled out a first-of-its-kind initiative called ‘Surakshaagrah- Covid Par Halla Bol’ in rural pockets of Bihar’s six flood-prone districts.

    Partnering with UNICEF, the Bihar Sewa Samiti, Aga Khan Rural Support Program, (India) and the Ghoghardiha Prakhand Swarajya Vikas Sangh will focus on Supaul, Darbhanga, Muzaffarpur, Madhubani, Purnea, and Sitamarhi districts where an estimated population of 3.6 million people face flood fury almost every year.

    As the deadly second wave of COVID-19 spreads alarmingly in the state, the initiative will also help the people understand the necessary safety protocols needed to curb the spread of the virus.

    “Rapid transmission of COVID-19 in rural areas is really worrisome. Almost 89 per cent of Bihar lives in villages. More than 46 per cent are children and adolescents, who are particularly vulnerable. It is crucial that rural populations including children and youth have the tools of correct information on how to protect themselves, why and how to stay safe at home, how to access healthcare and other critical services in a timely manner— be it emotional and mental well-being, nutrition, education and protection from abuse,” said Nafisa Binte Shafique-CFO Unicef Bihar.

    She added that the ‘Surakshaagrah’ is aimed at mobilising individual and community consciousness and responsibility towards fighting the pandemic, and better preparedness for floods, as well as instill hope, mutual support, and preparedness among the people.

    Over 600 Suraksha Praharis (Block and Community Mobilisers) are being engaged through partners for this purpose.

    The teams will assist the district administration and key line departments in the coordinated rollout of this initiative.

    All partner NGOs together with social mobilisation network, (SMNET) have already started working in coordination with the district administration, health, rural development, and other departments.

    To address child protection-related issues, they will also coordinate with the child protection structures – block and community child protection committees, as well as the local police.

    “The initiative will also orient and mobilise support from PRIs, JeeVika, DRR (Disaster Risk Reduction) catalysts, religious leaders, youth, local artists, media and other stakeholders in effectively implementing all activities,” the UNICEF chief stated.

    Unlike the first wave, children have been much more affected this time around.

    Communication specialist of UNICEF Nipun Gupta said “COVID-19 has resulted in an increased risk of violence against children besides other problems like missing and unaccompanied children, consequences of the migration crisis, mental health issues, child labour, trafficking, and early marriage. Even during floods, children’s vulnerability increases manifold.”

    According to Bihar Health department data, approximately 45,000 children and adolescents have been affected due to COVID-19 between March 18 to May 17 this year. This is around 11 percent of total COVID-19 patients in the state.

  • After black fungus, Bihar reports four cases of white fungus in Patna

    By Express News Service
    PATNA: After the spread of black fungus infections, Bihar on Thursday reported four cases of white fungus.

    According to the state health department, the infection of white fungus has been diagnosed with four patients at Patna Medical College and Hospital.

    Till now, complaints of black fungus were reported in Covid patients after their recovery. Now, the problem of white fungus has created a kind of fear psychosis among the Covid patients.

    Dr. SN Singh, head  of the Microbiology, Department of PMCH, confired the white fungus cases. He said all available treatments are being provided to the patients.

    The white fungus damages the skin of the patients and on being neglected, poses threat to the lives of patients.

    So far, more than 50 cases of black fungus have been detected in Bihar. Recently, a doctor and a woman patient lost their lives to black fungus in the state.

    ALSO WATCH | ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT BLACK FUNGUS

  • Patna man turns messiah, has cremated over 130 coronavirus victims since last April

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Forty-nine-year-old Mukesh Hissariya has been receiving endless calls. With COVID-19 pandemic striking us hard, this Patna-based businessman-turned social activist has come as a messiah for the poor. Since April 2020 till this year, Hissariya has helped with the final rites of 130 coronavirus victims and 15 others. Among these, he also helped create 35 such bodies in instances where the family members of the victim did not turn up for the funeral in the fear of contracting the deadly virus. 

    He is known to act swiftly in cases where family members refuse to perform the final rites of the coronavirus victims. 

    On April 30, Mukesh sent an ambulance he has hired to transport the bodies of a retired armyman and his wife that were lying in a morgue of Danapur for two days as their only son was also battling with COVID-19 at hospital.

    The Patna resident receives almost 20 calls on a daily basis seeking his help in arranging cremations of those who have succumbed to Covid. “When nobody shows up for cremating these bodies, we make sure that the final rites are done in the right manner,” he says.

    “I have made arrangements to transport over 135 bodies of coronavirus victims and 15 others since last April for their final rites at Bansghat and Gulabighat in Patna.”

    Hissariya has deputed Ram Pravesh at Bansghat and Bhim Kumar at Gulabighat. These two make all the arrangements for the cremations in the presence of the family members. They make sure that workers transport the bodies from ambulances and placed on the pyres before being consigned to the flames. The duo also helps family members get one last glimpse of their loved ones. 

    If this humane gesture weren’t enough, there is more. with the second wave claiming more lives, Hissariya has also started arranging free food for the attendants of Covid victims who have to wait for long hours for their turn.

    He is also known to organise mass wedding functions with the help of the business community in Patna, and has recently formed a virtual blood bank with over 20,000 volunteers. “Service to humanity is service to mankind and when the humanity is in danger due to the pandemic, everyone should come ahead to fight it out together,” he said.

    Hissariya’s kindness has also made news in the Bollywood when he was invited on the sets of Kaun Banega Crorepati where he met with veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan.

  • COVID-19: Sharp rise in deaths among Bihar’s journalists, teachers and bureaucrats

    Express News Service
    PATNA: April has seen a dramatic rise in the number of COVID deaths among Bihar’s police personnel, doctors, teachers, professors, bureaucrats, journalists, and public employees. 

    According to official sources, as many as 13 police personnel, 75 school teachers and professors, 14 doctors, 3 journalists, and half a dozen officers of both the Indian Administrative Services and the Bihar Administrative Services (BAS) have lost their lives to the deadly virus.

    More than 202 police personnel have tested positive this month. What’s concerning is that about 90% of them were administered both doses of the COVID vaccine. Around 600 healthcare professionals, including doctors and paramedic staff, have tested positive. Fourteen of them have died, and almost all of them had taken the second dose of the vaccine.

    Many senior IAS officers Vijay Ranjan (Director of Panchayat Raj), Ravi Shanker Chaudhary  (Additional secretary in health department ) and Pankaj Kumar Singh-(Director of Industries Department) were among those who died. More civil servants have tested positive and are under quarantine

    As per the data, 60 teachers and 15 professors have died. In the Nalanda district, the District Education Officer (DEO) and 15 teachers died in the last two weeks. Alarmed over the deaths, the Nalanda teachers union has written a letter to the Human Rights Commission seeking its intervention to get the schools closed.