The residents returning from foreign countries have added to the worry of Bihar with many of them found having infected with the deadly coronavirus. Although corona has claimed only one life in the state, the number of persons infected with the virus has now climbed to 24.

According to a report of the health department, of the total 24 tested positive for corona in the state, 10 were such who had returned from the gulf countries. They included five persons from Siwan and one each from Gopalganj, Begusarai, Nalanda, Gaya and Munger.

A Munger resident Saif Ali who later died at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on 21 March Patna has been found to have infectd as many as 12 persons so far. He had returned from Qatar and got admitted to five various hospitals located at Munger, Bhagalpur and Patna districts for his treatment for kidney disease. After his death, he was found Corona positive but by then it was too late.

Of the total 12 persons getting infected by Saif, four are hospital staffs, three are his family members, one is ambulance driver while the rest are those who came in contact with the ambulance driver. The health department has also kept under surveillance another 120 persons who came in contact with the Munger resident while it had to quarantine nearly one lakh population settled in a radium of three km of the three hospitals where the victim had admitted. Authorities have now shut down these three hospitals located in Patna and Munger districts—Sharnam Hospital, Jivan Avtar Hospital and National Hospital.

Likewise, around 30 villages in Siwan have been sealed with barricades and cops deployed at the entry points after four residents who returned from the gulf countries were tested positive for corona. The victims identified as Raj Kumar, Sah Manoj, Bhola Sharma and Meeraj Hussain had returned from Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Sharjah and Bahrain.

Police said the residents living in three blocks of the Siwan districts have been asked not to come out of their homes. The local administration has also intensified patrolling in the areas to ensure the persons placed under home quarantine don’t walk on the streets. Authorities have announced to provide essential commodities to the residents of the three blocks.

Meanwhile, a total of 6,242 persons who returned from foreign countries after January 15 this year have been enrolled for observation. Of them, a maximum of 3,105 belong to Siwan district, 510 from Gopalganj, 345 from Darbhanga and 206 from Nalanda, according to the latest report of the health department.