Nitish Kumar, Sushil Modi Send Swab Samples for Covid-19 Test after Sharing Dais with Bihar Leader Who Tested Positive

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and 14 staffers of his office tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday, official sources said hours after him and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi sent their swab samples for test. The leaders had shared the dais with Legislative Council Acting Chairman Awadesh Narayan Singh, who has been found infected with the virus, at an official event.

The samples were sent to Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) in Patna.

According to the sources, one of the 15 staffers in Kumar's Office was found positive.

"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," said a source at IGIMS.

The result of Modi's test is awaited.

Kumar had shared the dais with Singh during the oath ceremony of newly elected MLCs on July 1.

Singh's wife, two sons and daughter-in-law have also tested positive, said the leader's personal assistant Rahul Kumar who is also infected.

Singh was admitted to the isolation ward of AIIMS-Patna for treatment after his test report came, said the hospital's nodal officer on COVID-19 Sanjeev Kumar. His wife Meena Singh, elder son Anand Raman and personal assistant are also being admitted to AIIMS, while younger son Nishant Ranjan and daughter-in-law Khushbu Singh will be in home isolation, said family sources.

"The test results of the six persons, including myself, came today and the reports of other family members are likely to come by late evening," said Rahul Kumar.

Singh and all his family members had fever after which samples were collected on Friday by a team of IGIMS.

Singh is the fifth legislator in the state to have tested positive for COVID-19. Minister Vinod Kumar Singh and his wife have tested positive, besides BJP MLA Jibesh Kumar Mishra, Congress MLA Anand Shankar Singh and RJD MLA Shahnawaz Alam.

Veteran RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, a former Union minister, has been discharged from AIIMS after recovering from the disease.

(With inputs from PTI)