COVID-19 pandemic in Bihar

The first COVID-19 case in the Indian state of Bihar was reported in Munger on 22 March 2020, a 38-year-old tested positive for COVID-19, he was also the first victim.[1] He had travel history to Qatar.[2] The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has confirmed a total of 72547 cases as of 4 August 2020, including 20,922 active cases, 9647 deaths and 40,760 recoveries.[3] The virus has spread in 38 districts of the state, of which Patna district has the highest number of cases.[4]

COVID-19 pandemic in Bihar
DiseaseCOVID-19
Virus strainSARS-CoV-2
LocationBihar
First outbreakWuhan, China
Index caseMunger
Arrival date22 March 2020
(4 years, 7 months and 3 weeks)
Confirmed cases62,031 (4 August 2020)
Active cases20,922
Recovered40,760 (4 August 2020)
Deaths
349 (4 August 2020)
Fatality rate0.56%
Territories
38 Districts
Government website
Official website
www.mohfw.gov.in

The state has been under lockdown since 25 March 2020. The state government has responded to the outbreak by following a contact-tracing, testing, and home-to-home surveillance model.

The state began witnessing a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases as migrant workers and many people of Bihar stranded in other parts of the country returned to the state. Many of them tested positive for the coronavirus when they arrived, and were quarantined.

Bihar's COVID case fatality rate is one of the lowest in the nation.[5] The recovery rate in the state, 76, is also better than the national average.

Timeline

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  • Bihar reported its first case on 22 March 2020.
  • Bihar reported its first 100 cases on 20 April 2020. It took almost 1 month to reach the 100th case.
  • Bihar reported 1,000 cases on 14 May 2020.
  • Bihar reported 5,000 cases on 8 June 2020.
  • Bihar reported 5,000 recoveries on 19 June 2020.
  • Bihar reported 10,000 cases on 1 July 2020.
  • On 10 July 2020, Bihar reported 10,000 recoveries.

April

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  • Highest number of cases reported on 27 April 2020. The total new cases reported were 69.
  • Up to 27 April total home screened by health workers is 7459917.
  • On 28 April total 19 new cases reported and 7 recovered.
  • On 28 April Corona spread to 27 districts including 2 new districts.
  • Total testing done until 28 April is 19790.
  • Till 28 April total 6 Government lab is functional for testing in Bihar. Four labs in Patna and 1 lab each in Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga.
  • On 29 April total 26 new cases reported and 1 recovered. Corona spread to two more districts.
  • On 30 April total 22 new cases reported and a total of 19 people recovered.
  • On 1 May 2020, 41 new cases, 1 death, and 14 recoveries were reported, and the coronavirus spread to another district, Katihar.
  • On 2 May 2020, 16 new cases, 1 death, and 26 recoveries were reported.
  • On 3 May 2020, 35 new cases, 7 recoveries were reported and the virus spread to another district, Sheohar.
  • On 4 May 2020, 8 new cases and 5 recoveries were reported.
  • On 5 May 2020, total 7 new cases and 33 recoveries were reported.
  • On 6 May 2020, total 7 new cases, 28 people recovered.
  • On 7 May 2020, total 8 new cases, 58 people recovered and corona spread to one more district.
  • On 8 May 2020, total 19 news cases, 49 people recovered Corona spread to 4 more districts: Supaul, Saharsa, Kishanganj, and Khagaria.
  • On 9 May 2020, 41 new cases and 51 recoveries were report, the virus spread to another district, Muzaffarpur.[6]
  • On 10 May 2020, 96 new cases, 40 recoveries and 1 death was reported. 3 private labs were approved by the government for COVID-19 testing.
  • On 11 May 2020, 54 new cases were reported.
  • On 12 May 2020, 118 new cases were reported.
  • On 17 May 2020, 148 cases were reported, the highest on a single day at that point.

June

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  • On 13 June 2020, 370 recoveries were recorded.
  • On 18 June 2020, 5 deaths were reported.
  • On 25 June 2020, 374 recoveries were reported.

July

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  • On 6 July 2020, 7 deaths were reported.
  • On 10 July 2020, 11 deaths and 459 recoveries were reported.

August, September, and beyond

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Starting from mid-August, cases slowly started to drop,[7] and the state re-opened by early-March.[8][9]

However, after Holi on 29 March 2021, cases started to rise quickly again, the government imposed new restrictions on 3 April 2021,[10] and tightened them on 9 April 2021.[11] On 11 April 2021, Bihar reported 3,756 new cases and 12 deaths. Active cases on that day jumped to 14,695, of which half were reported in the past 48 hours. 1,91,352 people were vaccinated on 11 April 2021, with the cumulative number of vaccinations standing at 50,01,448.[12]

On 4 May 2021, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced that the state will go into a lockdown until 15 May 2021.[13] The government extended the lockdown until 25 May 2021, on 13 May 2021.[14]

Response

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Zones

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To tackle the outbreak of coronavirus in an effective and structured manner, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, has classified the country's districts in three different zones; Red, Orange, and Green, based on the severity of outbreak in those areas.[15]

The following is the list of districts of Bihar classified in their respective zones[16]

S.No.
Zones Districts
1. Red
(Hotspot)
Munger, Patna, Rohtas, Buxar, Gaya
2. Orange
(Non-Hotspot)
Kaimur, Nalanda, Siwan, Bhojpur, Begusarai, Aurangabad, East Champaran, Madhubani, Bhagalpur, Arwal, Saran, Gopalganj, Nawada, Lakhisarai, Banka, Vaishali, Darbhanga, Jehanabad, Madhepura, Purnia, Muzaffarpur, Sheikhpura, Araria, Jamui, Katihar, Khagaria, Kishanganj, Pashchim Champaran, Saharsa, Samastipur, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Supaul
3. Green
(COVID-19 free)

Testing Centres

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As of 10 May 2020, the state has 10 laboratories (7 government labs and 3 private labs) approved by ICMR for testing. Till 9 May, no private labs were approved to do COVID-19 testing in Bihar. On 10 May Bihar health department has permitted 2 private labs to collect samples and test for COVID-19. The rate of testing has been fixed and that is 4500 rs. [17]

  • On 15 May 1 more government lab approved to do COVID-19 testing.
  • On 16 May 1 more government lab approved to do COVID-19 testing.
  • On 18 May 3 more government lab approved to do COVID-19 testing.
  • On 19 May 2 more government lab approved to do COVID-19 testing.
  • On 20 May 1 more government lab approved to do COVID-19 testing.
  • On 21 May 1 more government lab approved to do COVID-19 testing. With that total testing center in Bihar reached 19(16 government lab and 3 private labs).
COVID-19 Testing Centers in Bihar
No.

Institute

City Testing facility started on

Type

Address\Detail
1 RMRIMS Patna 7 March 2020 Government
2 IGIMS Patna 25 March 2020 Government
3 DMCH Darbhanga 2 April 2020 Government
4 PMCH Patna 6 April 2020 Government
5 SKMCH Muzaffarpur 13 April 2020 Government
6 AIIMS Patna 15 April 2020 Government
7 JLNMCH Bhagalpur 3 May 2020 Government
8 Dr. Lal Path Labs Online 10 May 2020 Private Website: www.lalpathlabs.com,

Mobile Number: 8527483085

9 Path Kind Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd Patna 10 May 2020 Private Mobile Number: 7827949761/ 7827949762
10 Path Kind Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd Muzaffarpur 10 May 2020 Private Mobile Number: 7827949750
11 VIMS Pawapuri 15 May 2020 Government
12 District hospital Siwan 16 May 2020 Government
13 JKTMCH Madhepura 18 May 2020 Government
14 GMC Bettiah 18 May 2020 Government
15 ANMMCH Gaya 18 May 2020 Government
16 District hospital Munger 19 May 2020 Government
17 TBDC Motiihari 19 May 2020 Government
18 JLNMCH Bhagalpur 20 May 2020 Government
19 District Hospital Rohtas 21 May 2020 Government

Testing Summary

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Summary of test results
Samples tested 687,154
Tests per 1 million people 5,749
Positive per 100 Tests 9
Tested negative 625,123
Tested positive 62,031
Results Awaited -
Active Case 20,922
Recovery Rate 66

Total tests done is 687,154 as per 31 July [18][19] 21,271 reported active, 349 decreased and 40760 people recovered.[20]

Public Health Strategy

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Government Quarantine Facility

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In late March, as migrants workers started returning to Bihar, the state government imposed mandatory 14 days quarantining at government relief camps.[21] Initially in late May, the state government created three layers of quarantining:[22]

Category Level Source
A Block 11 cities: Surat, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgram, Noida, Kolkata, and Bangalore
B Panchayat UP, MP, Rajasthan and Haryana (except some towns)
C Village Elsewhere

But within days, the government changed strategy to only have returnee migrants from category A (Block level) be mandatorily put in institutional quarantine, while the rest were sent for home quarantine if found asymptomatic.[23] The camps were closed down on 15 June and the last registration for institutional quarantining took place on 1 June.[24] The reason given for this was that reportedly the last batch of migrant workers came back on 1 June and the ones who came to Bihar after that aren't necessary returnee migrant workers. The other reasons was that most of these camps operated out of schools, which needed to be vacated as the government planned to reopen schools in July.[25] As of 14 June, there were 288 Block Quarantine Camps with a total of 15,33,392 persons registered for quarantining.[26]

While operational, these camps provided three meals a day to them, as well as a minimum financial assistance of ₹1,000.[26] To combat rapid population growth, the state government also provided kits containing condoms, contraceptives, and pregnancy tests to the discharged migrants.[27] As of 10 June, 17 lakh condoms were distributed to the migrants.[28]

High-level Multi-disciplinary Central Teams

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Bihar is one of the 15 states and Union Territories which will get technical support and administrative hand-holding from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare through central teams composed of two public health experts, epidemiologists, clinicians and a senior Joint Secretary level nodal officer.[29] The central team will assist the health department of the state government in implementing containment measures and management of clinical cases. The team will also improve coordination between the state government, and the district and municipal level authorities for public health response on the field.[citation needed]

Economic Strategy

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Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan

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This central scheme will be launched in six states, including Bihar, on 20 June 2020 from Telihar village of Khagaria district of Bihar.[30] 32 districts in Bihar will be part of the scheme.[31] This scheme will provide employment opportunities to both rural workers and returnee migrant workers, and develop rural infrastructure. Under the scheme, 25 different types of work will be provided under mission mode. 12 different central government ministries and departments will be involved in this scheme: Rural Development, Panchayati Raj, Road Transport & Highways, Mines, Drinking Water & Sanitation, Environment, Railways, Petroleum & Natural Gas, New & Renewable Energy, Border Roads, Telecom and Agriculture.[citation needed]

The scheme will be launched in the following districts:[31]

East Champaran, West Champaran, Muzaffarpur, Vaishali, Darbhanga, Purnia, Gaya, Madhubani, Araria, Saran, Rohtas, Samastipur, Banka, Khagaria, Begusarai, Supaul, Bhagalpur, Saharsa, Aurangabad, Buxar, Kishanganj, Madhepura, Sitamarhi, Bhojpur, Siwan, Patna, Nalanda, Gopalganj, Jamui, Nawada and Kaimur.

State Government Response

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The Bihar government has mapped the skills of more than 17 lakhs of migrant-labourers and has engage more than 6 to 7 lakhs of them in different schemes employment schemes.[31]

Impact

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Migrant Workers Crisis

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Observing the situation of workers throughout the country, the central government and Indian railway decided to run the "Shramik Special" between states to help workers to reach their home state. Till 13 May over 169 Shramik special train reached Bihar different city from other states.[citation needed]

Bihar health department release data on 15 May about total cases related to the migrant workers.

  • Total Migrant positive case report 358 from 4 May to 15 May.
  • Total 416 migrant positive case reported until 15 May.[32]

Statistics

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District wise details

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COVID-19 daily graph by total number of cases, recoveries and death

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Daily new cases

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Daily Recovered

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[33] [34]

Daily new death

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Active cases

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Map Statistics

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Cases outside Bihar

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See also

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "India Reports Seven Coronavirus Deaths As 3 Die In Mumbai, Bihar, Gujarat". NDTV.com. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  2. ^ "India Coronavirus death toll rises to 6 as Bihar reports its first death". Business Insider. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  3. ^ "MoHFW | Home". www.mohfw.gov.in. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  4. ^ "Coronavirus Tracker Bihar | Live Bihar News". Live Bihar News | लाइव बिहार न्यूज़ (in Hindi). 8 May 2020. Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  5. ^ "India Coronavirus Map and Case Count". The New York Times. 22 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  6. ^ "मुजफ्फरपुर में मिले 3 कोरोना पॉजिटिव मरीज, बिहार में Covid-19 संक्रमितों की संख्या 585 हुई" [3 COVID positive patients found in Muzaffarpur, Covid-19 infected number of 585 in Bihar]. Live Hindustan (in Hindi). 9 May 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
  7. ^ "How Bihar churned out such impressive Covid numbers". India Today. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  8. ^ "Bihar schools, colleges to reopen from January 4". The Indian Express. 19 December 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  9. ^ "Bihar Schools To Reopen From Jan 4, 2021; Classroom Teaching To Resume For Senior Sections". ABP News. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  10. ^ "Bihar govt comes out with fresh restrictions amid spike in COVID-19 cases". Financial Express. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  11. ^ "Bihar Government Announces Restrictions To Curb Covid Spike". NDTV. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  12. ^ "बिहार में कोरोना बेकाबू: 48 घंटे में मिले 7200 से ज्यादा Covid-19 पेशेंट्स, 12 ने गंवाई जान" [COVID uncontrollable in Bihar: more than 7,200 Covid-19 patients found in last 48 hours, 12 dead]. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Lockdown In Bihar Till May 15, Says Nitish Kumar As Covid Cases Rise". NDTV. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  14. ^ "Lockdown Extended In Bihar Till May 25". NDTV. Retrieved 19 May 2021.
  15. ^ "What are red, orange, green zones". The Times of India. 16 April 2020. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  16. ^ "Bihar's 13 Districts Declared As Green Zone". Jagran. 3 May 2020. Archived from the original on 8 May 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  17. ^ "#BiharFightsCorona testing statistics as of 10 am on 10/5/2020. 629 positive covid cases till date.the revised testing strategy,in view of migrants,is underway and has picked up.we share your concern.we have more than 2000 samples to be tested for today". Archived from the original on 19 August 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  18. ^ "Coronavirus Outbreak in India - covid19india.org". Archived from the original on 23 June 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  19. ^ Bihar Health Dept. "Bihar Health Dept on Twitter: "#CoronaUpdateBihar: ➡️ Testing statistics as of 10 am on 2/5/2020. ➡️ 466 positive covid cases till date. #BiharHealthDept https://t.co/esGTaiwABv"". Twitter.com. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  20. ^ Bihar, State Health Society [@SHSBihar] (15 May 2020). "स्वास्थ्य विभाग, बिहार सरकार द्वारा शुक्रवार दिनांक 15.05.2020 को जारी किए गए आंकड़े।अधिक जानकारी के लिए टॉल फ्री नंबर 104 पर कॉल करें या http://statehealthsocietybihar.org पर आएं। #COVID19FreeBihar #CovidUpdateBiharpic.twitter.com/UTYulkOTDJ" (Tweet) (in Hindi). Retrieved 16 May 2020 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ "UP, Bihar govt order mandatory 14-day quarantine for migrant workers returning to their villages". Jagran English. 29 March 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  22. ^ "Bihar revises migrant quarantine strategy based on infection risk". Indian Express. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  23. ^ "Bihar says migrant workers arriving from 7 states to be kept in quarantine camps". Hindustan Times. 23 May 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  24. ^ "Bihar: No more quarantine for those returning". Indian Express. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  25. ^ "Covid-19: Bihar stops registration of migrants for quarantine". Hindustan Times. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  26. ^ a b "Operation of Block Quarantine Camp" (PDF). Government of Bihar Disaster Management Department. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  27. ^ "Quarantined migrants in Bihar given condoms, contraceptives". The Hindu. 2 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  28. ^ "Bihar distributed around 17 lakh condoms to migrants after COVID-19 quarantine: Sushil Kumar Modi". New Indian Express. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  29. ^ "Centre deploys teams in 50 municipal bodies with high Covid-19 cases". Outlook India. 9 June 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  30. ^ "PM Modi to launch Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan on June 20". Economic Times. 18 June 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  31. ^ a b c "32 districts in Bihar, with 24 lakh migrants, to come under 'Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyan'". New Indian Express. 19 June 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  32. ^ Sanjay Kumar (15 May 2020). "#BiharFightsCorona health dept has been very attentive to arrival of migrants and analysing data on a continuous basis.sharing data for all migrants from the beginning and for the period 4/5/2020 to 15/5/2020 (10am).all are housed in institutional quarantine centres". Twitter.
  33. ^ Bihar Health Dept (3 June 2019). "Bihar Health Dept on Twitter: "#COVIDー19 Updates Bihar: ➡️ 05.05.2020 तक कुल 28,791 🧪 सैम्पल की जांच हुई है। ➡️ अबतक कुल 142 मरीज ठीक हुए हैं। ➡️ अभी तक 529 केस पॉजिटिव पाए गए हैं। #SocialDistancing #IndiaFightsCorona #COVID19outbreak @sanjayjavin @mangalpandeybjp @DM_Samastipur @NitishKumar"". Twitter.com. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  34. ^ "CoronaVirus Bihar News Update: 8 New positive cases found in Siwan, Data reaches to 536 ,160 discharged". Jagran.com. Retrieved 6 May 2020.