Patna (Bihar): Amid the warning by the National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM) about the third wave, an 11-year-girl child succumbed to COVID-19 at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the state capital. AIIMS Corona Nodal Officer Dr Sanjeev Kumar confirmed that an eleven-year-old girl Aarohi Kumari died within three hours after being admitted to the hospital. He also said that two more kids tested positive, however, their condition is stable.
The girl, who was a resident of Gosai Tola of Patna, died on Thursday night after her parents rushed her to the hospital since she was suffering from viral fever. The death of the child has created panic among the parents who are sending their wards to the school. All the schools in the state capital are open as per the order of the state government
However, the children's health remains a cause of concern since they are not vaccinated yet. Also, the existing pediatric health care facilities are not good enough in Bihar to treat children on a large scale. In one of the recent interviews to the media, Medanta chairman Dr Naresh Trehan had expressed concern over the reopening of the schools. He had asked the government to wait for two or three months till the children get vaccinated against the deadly virus.
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Dr Trehan has categorically stated that if a large number of children fall sick, India does not have the health infrastructure to cope with it. Though the school administration is taking all the preventive measures but risk factor can't be ruled out. Unlike parents who ensue that their wards sanitize their hands, it would be difficult for teachers to run behind students in the classrooms.
A panel set up by the Central government, in its latest report, had warned that the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic could peak around October. The panel also stated that children might be at higher risk as adults in the anticipated third wave.
On Friday, a girl named Siya from Chapra- Saran district was admitted to the AIIMS and her treatment is underway in an isolation ward. One more child is admitted in the same hospital. The doctors, especially pediatricians have asked the parents and school authorities to take all the precautions for their children. As many as 1,64, 874 samples have been examined in the last 24 hours. The recovery rate in Bihar is 98.65 %.
The multiple delta variants have remained the cause of concern for experts and doctors. AIIMS pediatric ward has received numerous cases of viral fever in the past few days. As per the latest report of the Bihar health department, six new cases have been detected including two in Patna in the last 24 hours. On other hand, the pace of the Covid vaccination is also high in Bihar as 3.89 crore vaccines have been administered out of which 3.24 crore with the first dose whereas 65 lakh got their second jab.
In Bihar, a mega vaccination drive is going on. There are 3,324 vaccination centres at government places and 10 centres at private.
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