Five persons a suspected coronavirus patient and his four family members were caught by the police here on Thursday hours after they fled a hospital in adjoining Munger district where they had been kept in quarantine, a senior official said.
According to Superintendent of Police, Sheikhpura, Daya Shankar, he was informed about the escape by his Munger counterpart Lipi Singh late Wednesday.
The latter said mobile phone locations suggested they were in Sheikhpura, following which the districts borders were sealed and a search operation was launched.
He said the escapees were found inside a car at Sheikhpura by-pass on which a sticker proclaiming that the vehicle belonged to a government official to hoodwink the police was affixed.
All the five, the suspected patient, an old man, a middle-aged woman, a young woman and a young man, were sent back to Munger.
It was not known since when the suspected patient had been in quarantine and what was the status of his test reports.
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Munger, which reported Bihars first COVID 19 case on March 22, has emerged as a hotspot of sorts with seven cases so far, in a state where the total number as of now is 28. These include the deceased patient from whom the remaining six are said to have caught the contagion.
The 38-year-old, who had returned from Qatar and suffered from renal failure, also ended up infecting a relative from Lakhisarai district and three others associated with a private hospital in Patna where he was admitted for a brief period.