At least 17 passengers travelling to Ranchi by trains from Maharashtra and Odisha fled the Hatia Railway Station premises on Tuesday after testing positive for Covid-19 during routine Rapid Antigen Tests, some of them even switching off their mobile phones to evade contact, officials said.

An ambulance was parked outside the Hatia station to take Covid positive passengers to either quarantine centres or hospitals. Four magistrates were also deployed there to ensure that passengers who test positive do not escape. However, almost all the 17 passengers refused to wait for their rapid test results and “literally ran” away from the staff deployed at the station, eyewitnesses said.

Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Chhavi Ranjan had on Monday directed officials to ensure that all passengers testing positive for Covid-19 upon arrival at stations or the airport should not be allowed to go home. Ranjan was not available for his comments on Tuesday's fracas.

However, Ranchi Sub Divisional Officer Deepak Dubey said that an explanation for the laxity will be sought from the magistrates who were deployed there. “We will seek an explanation from the magistrates and also strengthen deployment of forces at railway stations. We would also request passengers to cooperate with us for the safety of Ranchi residents,” said Dubey.

Health officials have admitted that travellers from other states were contributing to the spike in Covid cases in Jharkhand. While all district administrations have been directed to intensify Covid screening among passengers, many Covid positive passengers went traceless in the state lately, posing a risk.

During inspection at Ranchi Railway Station on Tuesday, officials found that some passengers even tried to dodge Covid tests by jumping over fences and barricades. “They did not listen to any of our requests,” one of the inspecting officials said.

More than 100 passengers tested Covid positive in rapid antigen tests conducted on October 22 and October 23 at Hatia Railway Station. However, they tested negative for Covid-19 in confirmatory RT PCR tests, the results of which came a few days later, Ranchi Civil Surgeon Dr Vinod Kumar has clarified. However, some of the passengers who tested Covid positive in rapid tests at Hatia station earlier this week were found to be Covid positive even in confirmatory RT PCR tests.

Labourer dies of Covid

A Jamtara resident who recently returned home from Bangalore died of Covid-19 on Tuesday, doctors said. According to local sources, the deceased, who worked as a labourer in Bangalore, returned to Jharkhand on October 22. On Monday, his haemoglobin count dropped to an alarmingly low level and he died while he was being taken to Dhanbad for treatment.

As per data compiled by the health department, as many as 5,136 people have died of Covid-19 in Jharkhand so far.