23 of a family test positive for COVID-19 in Bihar's Siwan; district sealed

In some bad news from Bihar, at least 23 members of a family in Siwan have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last couple of days. As a consequence, the Nitish Kumar regime in Bihar has ordered sealing of Siwan and deployed Bihar Military Police (BMP) jawans to enforce strict lockdown in the area and quarantine those affected.

For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here

One particular person had travelled from Oman to Siwan, around 140 kilometres from the state capital, last month. Siwan is one such Muslim-dominated district which has a population of around 25 lakh, out of which around 50,000 people work in different Gulf countries.

This particular person (from Raghunathpur block), who returned to Siwan from Oman on March 16, tested positive on April 4. In between, he travelled to several other places in the district, thereby affecting 22 others, including women and children of his family.

Track sate-wise confirmed coronavirus cases here

“Till April 10, out of 60 positive cases in Bihar, 23 belong to one particular family in Siwan. Eight others from the same district have reported to be coronavirus patients, which effectively means half of the Bihar patients, who tested positive, belong to Siwan,” said a senior Government official here on Friday.

The other two districts which have been sealed are Begusarai and Nawada. Incidentally, both share a border with Patna. “It will be a curfew-type situation in the sealed areas where no one will be allowed to move out even to purchase milk or vegetables. All essential commodities will be provided to the needy by the government agencies,” said Bihar DGP, Gupteshwar Pandey, adding that Rapid Action Force (RAF) jawans too have been deputed to enforce complete lockdown.