5 foreigners test Covid positive in Bihar, alert at Gaya airport

Patna, Dec 26: Five foreign nationals, four of them from Thailand and one from Myanmar, have tested positive for COVID-19 upon arrival in Bihar on a pilgrimage, an official said on Monday.

According to Dr Ranjan Kumar Singh, the medical officer in charge of Gaya district, the foreigners were tested at the international airport here in the weekend as part of a drill that is being followed for those visiting Bodh Gaya to attend the Dalai Lama's discourses scheduled later this week.

Altogether 33 foreigners were tested during the weekend, out of whom five, four of them females, have tested positive, said Singh.

Condition of all the infected persons, who are in the age group of 35 to 75 years, was stable and they have been kept in isolation at the hotel they had checked in, added the official. Meanwhile, in view of the fresh cases, testing has been intensified at the airport and the Gaya railway station, the official said.

There has been a lot of uproar regarding the Bodh Mahotsava event which is organised every year in Bodhgaya. More than 20 thousand devotees from about 40 countries will stay in Gaya for the discourse. Bodh Gaya will host the annual

It must be noted that the health department has spruced up enforcement of Covid protocols in Bodh Gaya, where followers from across the world are expected to gather in huge numbers to listen to the sermons of Buddhist leader Dalai Lama.

According to Dr Ranjan Singh, the medical officer in charge of Gaya district, health personnel have been deployed for Covid testing of visitors from abroad, and people are being advised to wear masks in public places.

In 2019, before the pandemic, the tourist flow in Bodh Gaya had gone past five-lakh annual mark. The majority of visitors from overseas were Buddhist pilgrims traveling from Buddhist-majority countries. But in 2020 and 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic reduced visitors dramatically, cutting off the livelihoods of many in and around Bodh Gaya.

Bodh Mahotsav at Kalchakra ground between January 27-29, 2023. One of the biggest annual celebrations in Gaya district, Bihar, the event helps to bring the Buddhist Circuit to the limelight. The event first took place in 1998, and since then it has helped bring in a lot of visitors to Gaya.