The number of active cases of Covid-19 infection has dropped below 100 in at least seven of the 24 districts in Jharkhand, while two of these seven districts have less than 50 active cases of infection, data compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM) revealed.

Backward districts, which are home to mostly poverty-stricken tribal families, have reported fewer active cases of Covid-19 infection than the districts that have a strong urban population, health officials said.

As per the latest data with the NHM, Lohardaga, a largely rural district about 80km northwest of Ranchi, had only 20 active cases of Covid-19 infection on Saturday, the lowest among all the districts in Jharkhand. Sahibganj in Santhal Pargana had only 49 active Covid-19 cases. Pakur had 60 active cases, while Palamau had 62 active cases of infection and Garhwa had 90 active cases, the NHM figures further highlighted.

Doctors attributed the rapid fall in the number of active cases in backward districts to a lack of pollution and healthy lifestyle among residents. “Villagers do not socialize as much as urban residents. Their immune systems are also stronger than those living in concrete jungles, so it is not surprising that the number of active cases has dropped below 100 in the rural districts,” said Dr Ajay Singh, state coordinator of the Indian Medical Association (IMA).

Most of the districts in the Santhal Pargana division had fewer active cases of Covid-19 infection than the districts in other divisions of Jharkhand. Government figures highlighted that at least four of the six districts in the Santhal Pargana division had less than 100 active cases of infection. The remaining two districts in the division, Dumka and Jamtara, had 131 and 106 active cases of Covid-19 infection, respectively.

There were 65 patients of Covid-19 in Deoghar, a district in Santhal Pargana, on Saturday. Pakur and Sahibganj also fall in the Santhal region of Jharkhand. Godda, another district in the division, had 90 active cases of Covid-19 infection.

As per government records, all these districts have reported more than 1,000 cases of Covid-19 infection, and registered a recovery rate of more than 90 per cent. However, urban districts like Ranchi and East Singhbhum still had more than 1,000 active cases of Covid-19 infection. As per the latest figures with the government, as many as 2,457 people were battling the virus in Ranchi and 1,374 were battling it in East Singhbhum. There were 6,543 active cases across Jharkhand, as per NHM figures updated on Saturday afternoon.