Coronavirus cases have resurfaced in at least four Jharkhand districts that were declared Covid-free after no active cases being reported for several days, health officials said on Monday.

In the last 24 hours, cases have surfaced in Godda, Deoghar, Bokaro and Khunti districts, at least one of which did not report a single case of Covid infection for nearly two months.

Godda, which had reported zero cases of Covid-19 infection in the past 51 days, reported seven fresh cases on Sunday evening. Deputy commissioner of the district Kiran Kumari Pasi attributed the change in the trend to the return of migrants from other states.

“Out of the seven persons who tested positive for Covid-19 here, at least five are migrants,” said Pasi. “More than 45,000 migrants have returned to our district since May. We are tracing the contacts of the seven positive cases that were found in the past 24 hours,” she added.

Similarly, Deoghar became Covid-free on May 15 after all five of its active patients recovered. Fresh cases did not surface in the district until June 12 when five new cases were reported. All these patients recovered within a week and the district's active cases again stood at zero.

However, as many as 11 people in Deoghar tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, which doubles the number of total Covid cases there, district officials said.

“All the eleven fresh cases are that of migrants who returned from Delhi. They were put in quarantine, and they tested positive in the tests,” said Deoghar deputy commissioner Nancy Sahay. “Around 14,000 migrants have returned to Deoghar so far. The Covid figures will fluctuate as we test more migrants,” she added.

A senior health official, requesting anonymity, said that it was impossible for any district to retain its Covid-free tag at a time when thousands of migrants are returning to the state every week.

According to government figures, Bokaro did not report fresh Covid cases since June 11. Seven cases surfaced there on Sunday. No cases were reported in Khunti since June 15. At least six fresh cases surfaced there on Sunday.

Latest findings take the total count of Covid-19 cases in Jharkhand to 2,087. The number of patients who recovered from the infection stands at 1,406, while the number of active cases is 681, said health officials.