By Manoj Pathak
Patna, Jul 25 (IANS): The number of corona infected people in Bihar is increasing rapidly. In the state capital Patna, the number of infected people has crossed the 5,000-mark. Despite the government advocating preventive measures to contain the pandemic, many people seem careless about it.
The Bihar government has declared a lockdown across the state till July 31. However, people are allowed to move freely for some hours in the morning and evening. But instead of considering this a serious situation and staying at home, people are violating the social distancing norms openly.
People are not observing even the basic protocols to prevent the disease. They are moving in the streets without wearing a face mask. However, awareness campaigns are also being run to motivate people to wear a mask and the Police are also imposing fines on those not wearing a mask.
Additional Director General of Police (Headquarters) Jitendra Kumar said that action is being taken against those who do not wear masks. "A penalty of Rs 47,26,000 has been recovered from 94,520 people for not wearing a mask from July 5 to Friday," he said.
On the other hand, there is concern over the increasing number of corona infections. On Friday, a patient jumped off the third floor of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Patna.
In another incident, health workers had to face the ire of the villagers when they reached the Ratwara river in Mohania block where the last rites of a police inspector were being performed. The Inspector, who was deployed in Bhabhua Police Station of Kaimur district, succumbed to coronavirus. Thereafter, the corpse was taken to Varanasi.
According to the Health Ministry data, there were 18,853 corona patients in the state as of July 14 and the number increased to 33,511 till July 24. In these 10 days, the number of infected people in Patna has more than doubled. In Patna, the number of infected people was 2,259 on July 14 while on July 24 it increased to 5,347.
Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress are continuously targeting the government over the increasing corona cases. Former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Yadav said that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has been invisible for four months during this severe pandemic. This government has left students, labourers, patients, the poor and common man to die, he added.
Senior Congress leader and former state Youth Congress president Lalan Kumar said that the government has not been able to contain the coronavirus so far. A total of 65,000 doctors are needed in proportion to the population in the state. He said the total number of doctors working in government hospitals at present is 6,500 and corona patients are not being tested properly.
Refuting the charges, BJP spokesperson Dr Nikhil Anand said that the Opposition has contributed nothing during the pandemic except making statements.
"No one can ignore the fact that the joint effort of the NDA government and the Centre has brought positive changes on the ground level in Bihar," Anand said. "In the era of joint challenge of corona and flood, the administration is ready to provide food, relief, employment etc. to the public."