Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said on Tuesday that the third wave of the novel coronavirus has started in the state, while the administration has initiated all the necessary preparations to safeguard the population, Hindustan Times reported. Bihar recorded 47 fresh infections on Tuesday.
Kumar further said that doctors' contributions during the first and the second waves of the pandemic were commendable, and he appreciated them for the tireless effort
Meanwhile, the state government had ordered the closure of all public parks from December 31 to January 2 as it is on vigil looking out for Omicron cases. However, none out of the new variant has been reported yet. The government announced through an order that there would be a curb on New Year celebrations in parks, and closed the parks in hopes of preventing crowds thronging the area. The order mandates following government-issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) in order to prevent the staging of events of political, cultural, religious, sports-related etc., in view of the situation.
The Bihar government is fully prepared and doing everything to tackle the pandemic, Kumar said, adding that said that the state's "health department is busy improving facilities at the hospitals as per the guidelines issued by the central and state governments."
Union Health Ministry has listed 21 states where Omicron was reported. The country has reported 781 Omicron infections so far, and New Delhi tops the chart with 238 of them while Maharashtra-167 cases, Gujarat-73 cases, and Kerala 65 cases follow.