India News | COVID Recovery Rate Touches 88.24 Per Cent in Bihar: Nitish

Patna, Sep 7 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday said that the recovery rate of COVID patients has touched 88.24 per cent in the state but asked people to "remain alert and vigilant" as no one knows what will happen in future.

Stating that the testing capacity has crossed over 1.50 lakh per day in the state, Kumar said that 11,350 RT-PCR tests are being done on a daily basis at present which the government intends to increase to 20,000 a day.

Also Read | COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Covishield in Trial Phase, Adar and Natasha Poonawalla Meet Oxford University Professor Adrian Hill, Say 'Super Excited for Next Few Months'.

For this, the state government will be getting 10 RT-PCR machines and a COBAS 8800 machine from the central government, besides the state government will also be purchasing 10 RT-PCR machines, Kumar said.

This would enhance the testing capacity being done through RT-PCR to 20,000 per day from current 11,350 tests daily, he added.

Also Read | Deepak Kochhar Arrested by ED in Connection to ICICI Bank-Videocon Loan ‘Scandal’; Timeline of The Case.

Kumar, the JD(U) national president, was addressing 'nishchay samvad' virtual rally through party's newly launched digital platform jdulive.com at the party office here.

The deadly virus is raging in the state. With seven fresh COVID casualties in the past 24 hours, the toll has reached to 761 while 1369 fresh positive cases spiked the total to 1,49,026, according to the latest health department bulletin.

The recovery rate which has been seeing a steady rise since past over a fortnight jumped to 88.24 per cent Monday. "Out of the total number of people who have been the victim of the COVID-19, the recovery rate has improved to 88.24 per cent in the state.

"Today, the cases are declining but we have to remain alert and vigilant as no one knows what will happen in future like it is being seen in Delhi which started rise in cases after decline," he said.

The government has made arrangements for ICU beds, oxygen, ventilators, Kumar said, adding that monitoring is being done on a daily basis.

He, however, urged people not to give up alertness and strictly follow wearing face mask, maintain social distancing and keep washing hands regularly, effective weapons to check spread of the contagion.

"People above 65 years and below 10 years or suffering from serious ailments, pregnant women should not go outside the home unnecessarily," he appealed.

The chief minister highlighted the measures taken by his government during coronavirus lockdown especially dealing with the large number of migrant labourers returning to their native places in the state to escape the infection.

He said the state government spent Rs 5300 per person for quarantining them for 14 days at the government facilities, where around 15 lakh returnees were kept.

Two dedicated makeshift COVID-19 hospitals at Bihta (in Patna) and at Muzaffarpur have been built by the central government, Kumar said.

While talking about the work done by his government during current spell of floods in the state, the CM said relief and rescue operations were carried to help over 83 lakh marooned people in 16 districts.

Till September 6, the state government has transferred gratuitous relief (GR) totalling Rs 997.50 crore into the bank accounts of 16.62 lakh flood affected families in the state, Kumar said, adding Rs 6000 is paid as GR to every flood affected family.

(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)