3rd wave of COVID-19 starts in India's Bihar state

NEW DELHI, Dec. 30: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of India's eastern state of Bihar said the third wave of COVID-19 has already started in the state, local media reported on Wednesday.

"The third wave of COVID-19 pandemic has started in the state and all necessary arrangements are being made to save the people from it. The medical staff has made various preparations regarding this," Kumar told media while inaugurating the 96th national conference of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) in the capital city Patna on Tuesday.

Kumar appreciated the role of doctors in saving the lives of people in the last two waves of the pandemic.

"The doctors worked tirelessly risking their lives and treated both COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients when the first and second waves of pandemic hit the state. They deserve all the appreciations," he said.

Kumar said since the third wave of the pandemic has already started in the state, the health department has been busy improving facilities at the hospitals as per guidelines issued by the federal government.

Reports said the Bihar government was also keeping an eye on rising cases of the new Omicron variant, and has ordered the closure of all the parks from December 31 to January 2.

"It has been also decided that the New Year celebration will not take place in any park here. The decision has been taken to avoid the crowd on New Year," local media quoted a government order as saying.

So far, Bihar has not reported any Omicron case.

On Wednesday, the health ministry's data showed that 781 cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 have been reported in the country.