COVID-19 Outbreak: Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation Supplies 15,000 To Bihar

With one fresh positive case reported in Bihar, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the state climbed to 39 on Thursday.

A total of 16 patients have recovered from the deadly coronavirus, while one from Munger district died before his test result were out. He was tested positive for the coronavirus.

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has extended a helping hand to the Bihar administration when the entire country is reeling through shortages of essential medical equipment which includes Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), surgical masks, testing kits, and ventilators.

The Gates Foundation has donated 15,000 COVID-19 testing kits to the state. These kits were dispatched from Singapore and reached Bihar on Wednesday, April 8, via Mumbai and Lucknow.

Health Department Secretary Manoj Kumar said that we have received 15,000 test kits from the Foundation, which is a big help. Reportedly the Union government had supplied just around 5,000 kits to the state against chief minister Nitish Kumar's demand of five lakh test kits.

According to a DW report, Bihar has failed to plan the distribution of its resources. The report highlights that the state government does not have a sufficient supply of medical equipment.

"Bihar has 0.11 beds per 1,000 people, which is extremely lower than the WHO mandate," Bhavik Doshi, senior product specialist at the Economist Intelligence Unit's healthcare unit, told DW.

According to The Hindu, migrant workers, those who have been quarantined in schools and panchayat buildings have been found missing from the centres at night and heading back to the quarantine facilities in the morning.

The Nitish Kumar government has set up quarantine facilities at 3,115 government schools and other buildings. The state has witnessed an influx of 1.7 lakh migrant workers who moved back to their homes in Bihar due to the lockdown.

As many as 27,300 of them have been accommodated in such state-run facilities. However, it has been alleged that the quarantine facilities lack basic infrastructure and services like beds, toilets and electricity which drives them out of the shelter.

For such people, essential commodities like masks and sanitisers are a far fetched idea during the pandemic.

Also Read: COVID-19 Hospitals, Fever Clinics, Sealed Roads: Here Is How Karnataka Is Combating The Outbreak