Jharkhand’s Covid-19 recovery rate went above 80 per cent for the first time since the emergence of the virus in the state after 1599 patients recovered from the lethal infection on Monday, figures released by the state health department stated. The national Covid recovery rate on Monday was 80.10 per cent against Jharkhand’s 80.55 per cent.

The number of active cases dropped in Ranchi as well as East Singhbhum, two of the worst-affected districts in Jharkhand, despite 1321 people testing positive for the viral infection across the state in the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) SK Jha tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday, health officials said. Jha has gone into home quarantine, and a team of doctors is keeping a tab on his health, the officials added.

At least 259 patients recovered in Ranchi against 176 fresh cases of infection, while East Singhbhum reported 402 recoveries against 361 cases. The number of active cases, however, shot up in Dhanbad after 111 people were found infected there and 34 patients recovered on the day. As per government data, there were 3,394 active cases in Ranchi, 2,522 active cases in East Singhbhum and 968 active cases in Dhanbad by Saturday evening.

Of the 72,673 people infected by Covid-19 virus in Jharkhand so far, 58,543 have recovered and 13,504 were still battling the virus, stated a bulletin released by the National Health Mission (NHM) on Monday night. The Covid toll, however, jumped to 626 on Monday in the state as eight more patients died during treatment.

The Covid mortality rate in Jharkhand was 0.86 per cent, which is lower than the national average of 1.60 per cent. Three of the eight Covid casualties reported in Jharkhand on Monday occurred in East Singhbhum, a district that accounts for nearly 50 per cent of state’s Covid fatalities, government data stated. The district has reported 271 Covid deaths so far. Meanwhile, three patients died in Dhanbad and one each in Ranchi and Deoghar.

The government on Monday tested swab samples of 37,483 people and 16162 of them came negative. So far, health workers across Jharkhand have collected swab samples of 1.81 lakh people and tested 1.80 lakh of them. As per 2011 census, the state has a population of 3.29 crore, which means that not even 1 per cent of Jharkhand residents have been tested for the virus yet.