The Jharkhand health department on Thursday issued a directive to all deputy commissioners and civil surgeons to not admit Covid-19 patients from other states without referral letters as coronavirus cases crossed the 10,000 mark in the state.

The Covid-19 case count in the state reached 10,220 while 126 patients have died till Thursday.

The directive was issued by state health secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni, who had pointed out on Tuesday that 65 per cent of coronavirus patients in Jharkhand had links either to Bihar or Bengal.

“The civil surgeons and the deputy commissioners have been asked to ensure that Covid treatment facilities (Covid care centre, health centres and hospitals) in the state don’t admit positive patients directly. The patients or attendants would have to produce referral letters from the hospitals concerned,” said Kulkarni.

The directive also said that there have been cases where Covid-19 patients from neighbouring states are getting admitted in Jharkhand hospitals without even informing the authorities which is increasing the threat of spread of the disease.

The directive said that apart from the referral letter from the hospital from where the patient has been brought, the patient or attendant would also have to produce a permission letter from the district disaster management committee or from competent authorities of the state concerned.

Private hospitals and dedicated Covid-19 hospitals have been asked to provide information to the district surveillance units about positive patients from other states and any violations would lead to strict action according to the Disaster Management Act against the hospital, it said.

Meanwhile, state health minister Banna Gupta reviewed arrangements in Jamshedpur in East Singhbhum district, which is emerging as the new Covid-19 hotspot in the state with 1,737 cases and 25 deaths (highest death toll). The minister directed the district administration for acquiring the JRD Tata Sports Complex here and convert it into a Covid-19 facility.

“I have asked the East Singhbhum deputy commissioner (Suraj Kumar) and civil surgeon (Dr S.N Jha) to make arrangements for an additional 3,000-bed Covid care facility in the district in view of the rising cases.

“The JRD Tata Sports Complex and a couple of schools will be taken up by the district administration for developing Covid care facilities. I have also asked the National Health Mission director to start appointing doctors and paramedics on contract basis to meet the shortage of health personnel for treating coronavirus patients. We also plan to take over Medica Superspecialty Hospital through Tata Steel and develop it as a dedicated Covid care facility,” said Gupta.

The health minister warned private and government health centres of strict action if there are reports of neglect of patients on the pretext of rising number of Covid-19 cases.

According to health department data, there are 270 ventilators available in the state while 1,154 beds are available in the dedicated Covid-19 hospitals, of which 373 have oxygen support and 204 provide ventilator support. The state government is also building a 500-bed facility at Khelgaon in Ranchi.