Patna with 44 Covid-19 cases among Bihar’s 5 districts in red zone
A 54-year-old man from Motihari, infected by Covid-19, and suffering from cancer of the oesophagus died at the Nalanda Medical College Hospital in the state capital on Friday in what was the third fatality in the state due to the fast spreading contagion.
Patna figures among Bihar’s five districts under the red zone, finishing hopes of an early end to restrictions imposed due to coronavirus.
A 54-year-old man from Motihari, infected by Covid-19, and suffering from cancer of the oesophagus died at the Nalanda Medical College Hospital in the state capital on Friday in what was the third fatality in the state due to the fast spreading contagion.
Munger with 95 cases, Rohtas (52), Buxar (51) and Gaya (6) are the other districts, along with Patna (44), in the red zone, as per the zone-wise classification of districts pan India, released by the health ministry on Thursday for focussed management of Covid-19.
Twenty other districts of Bihar are under the orange zone and the remaining 13 in green zone. This classification will come into effect from May 4 and will last for around a week after which it will be revised.
Bihar accounted for 3.84% of the total 130 districts under the red zone in India. Similarly, the state contributed 7.04% of the total 284 districts under orange zone and 4.07% of the remaining 319 districts under green zone in the country.
“The classification is multi-factorial and takes into consideration incidence of cases, doubling rate, extent of testing and surveillance feedback to classify the districts. Based on field feedback and additional analysis at state level, states may designate additional red or orange zones as appropriate. However, states may not relax the zonal classification of districts classified as red/orange as communicated by the ministry,” said Preeti Sudan, secretary, ministry of health and family welfare, in her letter to chief secretaries of states and union territories.
It is a dynamic list and would be revised on a weekly basis or even earlier, she said.
“A district will be considered under green zone, if there are no confirmed cases so far or there is no reported case since the last 21 days in the district,” said her letter of April 30.
Bihar’s cases are now doubling in less than six days as against nine days previously. The number of cases had gone up from 43 to 85 between April 8 and 17. The same went up from 85 on April 17 to 170 on April 23, as per information shared through a tweet by Sanjay Kumar, Bihar’s principal secretary, health, on April 24.
Four days later, the cases had doubled, crossing the 340-mark.
The state health department has not shared any more information on Covid-19 case doubling in number of days. It has not shared information on zone-wise classification of districts ever since the first Covid-19 case was reported in Bihar on March 22.
Efforts to reach Kumar proved futile as he did not respond to phone calls or text messages. Bihar health minister Mangal Pandey was also not available for comments despite repeated attempts.
Bihar’s 466 cases are spread across 30 of its 38 districts, with Munger topping the list at 95. It was followed by Rohtas (52), Buxar (51), Patna (44), Nalanda (36), Siwan (30), Kaimur (24), Gopalganj, Madhubani (18 each), Bhojpur (12), Begusarai (11), Aurangabad (8), Gaya, Sitamarhi, Saran (6 each), Bhagalpur, Darbhanga, East Champaran, West Champaran, Madhubani (5 each), Lakhisarai, Nawada, Arwal, Jehanabad (4 each), Banka, Vaishali (3 each), Madhepura, Katihar (2 each), Purnia, Araria Sheikhpura (1 each).
According to government data, Bihar had reported 282 Covid-19 cases during the last one week between April 23 and 30.
The total number of active Covid-19 cases is 365, after three deaths in the state capital and 98 patients having recovered and discharged from different government facilities in the state so far.
ZONE WISE CLASSIFICATION:
RED ZONE: Munger, Rohtas, Buxar, Patna, Gaya
ORANGE ZONE: Nalanda, Kaimur (Bhabua), Siwan, Gopalganj, Bhojpur, Begusarai, Aurangabad, Madhubani, East Champaran, Bhagalpur, Arwal, Saran, Nawada, Lakhisarai, Banka, Vaishali, Darbhanga, Jehanabad, Madhepura, Purnia
GREEN ZONE: Sheikhpura, Araria, Jamui, Katihar, Khagaria, Kishanganj, Muzaffarpur, West Champaran, Saharsa, Samastipur, Sheohar, Sitamarhi, Supaul.
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