With healthcare gasping for breath, Bihar turns into Covid-19 hotspot

Till the last week of June, Bihar was like any other state reporting less number of Covid-19 cases. However, on July 20, as some employees of Bihar's Health Department tested positive, the tally shot up to 26,379 from 9,618 on June 30.

What happened in the last 20 days that the state saw an alarming surge in coronavirus cases with around a 2.5 times jump? Though no official was willing to go on record, but on condition of anonymity one of them admitted that the wedding in rural Patna (where 101 persons out of 356 who attended it tested positive, while the groom died) and a marriage anniversary function at Beer Chand Patel Marg (where 75 persons, including 24 BJP leaders, were found to be Covid-19 positive) turned out to be 'super-spreader' in July. Incidentally, the Bihar BJP chief also tested positive and had to be admitted to AIIMS, Patna.

It is little wonder that top Union Health Ministry official Lav Agarwal led a three-member delegation to Bihar on Sunday to take a first-hand account of coronavirus pandemic. The officers, who visited some of the containment zones, asked the Bihar officials to increase the testing capacity through RTPCR (reverse transcription poymerase chain reaction), a confirmatory test for Covid-19. Bihar has the lowst testing rate in India.

It's not only the state capital which is fast turning into a hotspot. Bhagalpur DM, DDC and other officials have also quarantined themselves after testing positive. Darbhanga, Siwan, Gaya and Begusarai districts have also seen a quantum jump in Covid-19 patients.

In Patna, besides the Home Secretary, one Principal Secretary, a Joint Secretary, employees of Raj Bhavan and Chief Secretary office, those staying in CM house have also tested Covid-19 positive.

Equally alarming is the situation in semi-urban areas. Reports are pouring in from all corners of the state, including Rohtas and Bhojpur, that patients are lying unattended. "In dedicated hospitals, doctors could hardly be seen. Nurses do not want to come closer to the affected persons. Relatives are told to manage oxygen cylinders. Such is the pathetic scenario everywhere that just pray you don't fall sick or have to go to any hospital," Sneha Gupta, who lost one of her relatives two days back in Muzaffarpur, told Deccan Herald on Monday.