CM Nitish Kumar asks officials to step up testing and vaccines in Bihar

• CM, also asked the health department to place an order for more vaccines from the Centre
• Six new cases of Covid-19 were registered in the state from Patna on Wednesday
• This took the number of active cases in Bihar to 21

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday directed the officials concerned to further increase testing of samples and boost vaccination against Covid-19.

The CM, in a meeting with senior officials to review the Covid-19 situation in Bihar, also asked the health department to place an order for more vaccines from the Centre.

Chief Secretary Amir Subhani, Chief Secretary to CM Deepak Kumar, Health Ministry Additional Chief Secretary Pratyaya Amrit and Health Secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh were present in the meeting.

Health Minister Sanjay Kumar Singh said the CM asked them to remain vigilant and monitor the trend closely. Singh said Bihar tested 8.50 lakh samples per million of its population, which was more than the country's average of 6.50 lakh per million. “The CM appreciated this effort and asked for its further increase. He also instructed us to even focus on vaccinations,” said Singh.

Meanwhile, six new cases of Covid-19 were registered in the state on Wednesday. All these cases were from Patna district. This took the number of active cases in Bihar to 21.

According to data shared by the health department, these new cases were against 1.42 million samples tested across the state. Bihar was ranked 22 with six new cases registered on Wednesday, while Maharashtra was at the top with a maximum of 450 new cases registered in the same stretch and active cases rose to 2,343.