Patna, Jul 24 (PTI) The COVID-19 death toll in Bihar rose to 221 on Friday with nine more people succumbing to the disease in 24 hours, while over 1,800 fresh cases took the state's tally to 33,511, according to a health department bulletin.

Of the fresh deaths, Muzaffarpur and Rohtas reported two, while Patna, Gaya, Nalanda, West Champaran and Supaul registered one fatality each. With Saupal registering it's first COVID-19 death, all 38 districts have had fatalities due to the viral infection.

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Patna, the worst-affected district in the state, became the first to have reported over 5,000 COVID-19 cases till date.

The total number of cases reported in Patna so far stood at 5,347, while the state's tally soared to 33,511, the bulletin stated. Patna district accounts for 1,869 active cases, more than 10 per cent of the state's aggregate of 10,458.

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Patna also accounts for the highest number of 36 coronavirus fatalities, followed by Bhagalpur with 19 deaths, Gaya 14, Muzaffarpur and Rohtas 11 each and Darbhanga 10.

Other severely-hit districts include Bhagalpur with 2,023 case, Muzaffarpur 1,514, Gaya 1,336, Rohtas 1,257, Begusarai 1,221, Siwan 1,204 and Nalanda 1,200.

However, with 1,873 patients recuperating from the disease in 24 hours the state's COVID-19 recovery rate reached 68.13 per cent, an improvement of over two percentage points from that on Thursday.

The health department reiterated that the spike witnessed in the last few weeks, which has led to clamping of another lockdown in the state since July 16, could also be attributed in part to an improved testing rate which now stands at more than 10,000 samples being examined daily.

So far, more than 4.29 lakh samples have been tested for COVID-19, and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has instructed the officials to raise the testing rate to 20,000 per day. PTI NAC NSD 07250007 NNNNhearts," honoring the nearly 28,000 who have died with COVID-19 in Spain. The league officially resumed on Thursday with third-place Sevilla defeating city rival Real Betis 2-0.

The victory kept Madrid two points behind Barcelona, which returned on Saturday with a 4-0 rout at Mallorca. Eibar and Mallorca are both fighting relegation.

Madrid dominated from the start and Kroos opened the scoring with a shot into the top corner in the fourth minute. Ramos added to the lead from close range in the 30th after a pass by Hazard, who started the buildup for Marcelo's strike from inside the area in the 37th.

Eibar, sitting two points outside the relegation zone, got its only goal from Pedro Bigas in the 60th.

Ramos had scored the first goal at the Alfredo Di Stéfano when it was inaugurated with an exhibition match in 2006.

"The truth is we are all thrilled to be back on the field again," Ramos said.

"We couldn't wait for the league to start again, to compete again, and the best way to do that is with a win."

Madrid is expected to play all of its remaining home matches at the Alfredo Di Stéfano because the Bernabéu will continue to undergo renovation work during the summer.

The club is likely to remain at the stadium for the rest of the season even if fans are allowed back before then, which the league has said is a possibility.

ATLÉTICO HELD

Atlético Madrid's struggles continued as its season resumed after being held 1-1 at Athletic Bilbao for its third straight league draw.

The setback kept Diego Simeone's team in sixth place, outside the Champions League spots.

The goals at the empty San Mamés Stadium came a couple of minutes apart late in the first half, with Athletic's Iker Muniain scoring in the 37th and Atlético equalizing with Diego Costa in the 39th for his first goal since last October.

During the celebration, Costa held the jersey of Atlético women's team player Virginia Torrecilla, who is recovering from brain surgery to remove a tumor.

It was the 13th league draw for Atlético, which has only two wins in its last nine league matches.

"We earned a draw at a tough place but we need to start winning three points if we want to stay in contention to qualify for the Champions League," Atlético midfielder Jorge "Koke" Resurrección said.

"It will be difficult if we don't start winning matches."

Atlético's last match before the break had been an away victory against Liverpool that eliminated the titleholders in the Champions League round of 16. But Atlético had drawn its last two league matches — against Sevilla and Espanyol — to drop in the standings and remain far from the leaders. It trails Barcelona by 15 points with 10 rounds left.

Atlético has the same 46 points as fifth-place Getafe and is a point behind fourth-place Real Sociedad, which drew 1-1 with Osasuna at home on Sunday.

Athletic, which had won two in a row before the break, stayed in 10th place. AP

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)