Nitish Kumar, 14 Bihar CMO staffers test negative for COVID-19

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday tested negative for COVID-19. Bihar Chief Minister and his four secretaries got themselves tested for coronavirus earlier on Saturday after they attended an event in which a BJP leader, who was later found COVID-19 positive, also took part.

Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and 14 staffers of the CMO tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday, official sources said.

According to the sources, one of the 15 staffers in the Chief Minister's Office who had undergone the test was found positive for the infection.

Kumar, earlier in the day, underwent a COVID-19 test after acting Chairman of the Bihar Legislative Council Awadhesh Narayan Singh tested positive for the virus.

He had shared the dais with Singh at an official event here on July 1, officials said.

The swab samples of Kumar and 15 staffers of the CMO were sent to the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) here 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.

According to the Union Health Ministry, Bihar has reported 10,954 COVID-19 positive cases, including 2,660 active cases, 8,214 cured/discharged/migrated as of July 4.

(With inputs from agencies)