Patna, Apr 15 (IANS): Another 4,786 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Bihar in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of active cases in the state to a weekly high of 23,724 -- 2.5 times higher than the cases (around 9,000) recorded last Wednesday, health officials said.

Some of the state's top officials, Chaitanya Prasad, additional chief secretary of home department, S. Siddharth, principal secretary of finance department, and Madan Sahni, social welfare minister have also tested positive for the Covid-19. They have been admitted to AIIMS, Patna.

Officials said on Wednesday that 17 people have lost their lives in different hospitals in the last 24 hours. At least 11 deaths were recorded in Patna.

Four patients died in Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), three in Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH), 3 in Patna AIIMS and one at a private hospital.

CID inspector Rakesh Kumar and Anish Akhtar, Deputy Secretary in Bihar Technical Services Commission, have also succumbed to the dreaded virus, in Patna.

Meanwhile, the Bihar government has urged the Indian Army to provide 50 doctors to set up a 500-bed Covid hospital in Bihta in Patna district.

"We need help from Indian Army to provide 50 doctors to run a hospital having capacity of 500 beds," said Pratyay Amrit, the principal secretary of the health department Bihar.