Bihar: 19 Migrant Workers Test COVID-19 +Ve, 70 Flee From Quarantine Centre

Patna: Migrant workers continue to pour into Bihar and 19 of them tested positive of the 29 cases which were reported on Friday. The 19 migrant labourers had reached Bihar three days earlier.

The total number of COVID-19 positive cases in the state has now reached 580. As migrant workers began to return to the state, the number of Coronavirus positive cases saw an upward trend. So far, 83,000 migrant labourers have returned to Bihar in 70 trains. Additionally over 18,000 migrant labourers are scheduled to return to Bihar in 15 trains on Saturday.

In Nawada, more than 70 labourers ran away from a quarantine centre on Saturday morning after a migrant worker there tested positive for COVID-19. 200 migrant labourers had been housed in the isolation facility there.

The migrant workers at the Nawada had reportedly been complaining of poor arrangements and bad facilities at the quarantine centre. They had been complaining that food was not being given on time and that it was at times being given only once, media reports stated.

Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered the testing of migrant workers returning to their homes in the red zone areas on a priority basis. The Bihar Chief Minister also pointed out that overseas Indians from the state would be returning over the next few days and that testing should be carried out as per protocols along with required quarantine.

More than 2000 returnees from various countries are expected to land in Bihar over the next few days. State government authorities have decided to screen all those who return upon landing and send them to a quarantine centre for 21 days.