Bihar set up special quarantine centres after migrant labourers returned from across India.
Thirteen new cases have been reported in Bihar over the last 24 hours, taking the total number of coronavirus positive patients in the state to 51, of whom 17 patients have been discharged. Most of the cases are from Siwan, the home district of state Health Minister Mangal Pandey .
Of the 51 patients who tested positive, 20 are from Siwan. Among the rest, seven are from Munger, five each from Patna, Gaya and Begusarai.
In Siwan, 13 of a family tested positive after coming in contact with a member who returned from Oman on March 21. He had tested positive for coronavirus on April 4.
According to the district administration, the man had claimed he was maintaining quarantine by staying outside his house. But later, some of his relatives told the medical team that he used to come inside the house.
Now most of the family has tested positive, though some of them are still asymptomatic - meaning they show no symptom of the disease.
The positive people have been kept at an isolation ward in at a local hospital in Siwan. The man with travel history is in Patna's Nalanda Medical College, which is dedicated to the treatment of COVID-19.
The entire village has been locked down.
After March 28, when a huge number of migrant labourers returned to the state, special quarantine centres were set up.
Data from the health department shows more than 3000 of these centres - located in border areas -- are functional, where more than 32,000 people are undergoing the mandatory 14-day isolation.
There however, have been reports that from several centres, people have been jumping quarantine. Blaming poor infrastructure, many have been leaving the quarantine centres to spend nights at their homes, the reports said.
Today, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar once again appealed to all the people not to hide their travel history and come for the health check-up and strictly observe the quarantine protocol.
Unlike several other states, Bihar has not asked for an extended lockdown. The Chief Minster has indicated that his government would stick by the Centre's decision.