COVID-19: Nitish Kumar, 14 Bihar CMO staffers test negative
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his four secretaries got themselves tested for coronavirusOut of 15 officials of the CMO, one of them has been found to be Covid positive
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and 14 staffers of the chief minister's office (CMO) has tested negative for COVID-19. Kumar and his officials went for a swab test after they attended a function with Legislative Council's Acting Chairman Awadhesh Narayan Singh, who has been found infected with the highly contagious disease.
PTI reported, quoting sources, that one of the 15 staffers in Kumar's office who had undergone the test was found positive for the infection.
The Chief Minister has directed all the officers who came in close contact with him to also undergo testing, stated the Chief Minister's office. According to the Union Health Ministry, Bihar has reported 10,954 COVID-19 positive cases, including 2,660 active cases as of July 4.
On Saturday, swab samples of Kumar and 15 staffers of the CMO were sent to the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) in Patna for COVID-19 test.
"Out of the 16 samples, the chief minister and 14 staffers of CMO have tested negative for COVID-19 while one staffer has been found positive in the test," a source at IGIMS said.
A video of the oath ceremony on July 1 shows the CM seating next to Awadhesh Narayan Singh, a BJP leader. Speaker of the Legislative Assembly Vijay Kumar Chaudhary was on the other side of the infected leader while Sushil Modi was seated next to the CM.
Those who took oath at the function on Wednesday are Ghulam Ghaus, Kumud Verma and Bhishm Sahni, Mohammad Farooq, Rambali Singh Chandravanshi and Sunil Kumar Singh, Sanjay Mayukh and Samrat Chaudhary and Samir Kumar Singh.
Besides Sushil Modi, samples of around 10 officials and his staff have been sent for testing.
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