A worrying leap: Bihar`s COVID toll mounts to 9,429 after govt revises data

Patna: Bihar’s COVID-related fatalities took a drastic leap after the state health department on Wednesday (June 9, 2021) revised the figures to over 9,000. 

The Nitish Kumar-led government issued the revised official data on Wednesday which stated that the cumulative fatalities in the state, as of June 9, stood at 9,429 as compared to the figure of 5,458 earlier on Tuesday (June 8, 2021).

This controversial leap of over 3,951 fatalities in a day, which is a 72 percent jump in the death toll, has raised many questions on the COVID-19 management of the state. Bihar is one of the worst affected states by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The issue came to light after the Patna High Court flagged irregularities in death figures in the Buxar district and had asked for an audit of casualties in the April-May second surge of COVID-19. The court’s order came after allegations were made that the state government did an audit of COVID-19 deaths at private hospitals and homes. 

The state government has now released the breakup of fatalities in all 38 districts.

According to the latest figures, the maximum fatalities were recorded in the state’s capital, Patna, which has reported over 2,303 deaths till Wednesday. Muzaffarpur district stood at second position with over 609 fatalities so far. 

As per the state health department data, Bihar had 7,353 active COVID-19 cases till Wednesday and has reported over 7,15,179 cases so far, out of which 6,98,397 people have recovered from coronavirus infection.