District administrations across the state are banking on innovation to check the spread of the novel coronavirus and keep people creatively engaged during the lockdown.

Ramgarh is the latest district to jump on the innovation bandwagon by setting up a new isolation centre, a rest room for doctors and medical staff, a Covid-19 sample collection centre and a sanitisation chamber within a fortnight by using pre-fabricated building blocks.

“The new facilities have been added to Ramgarh Sadar Hospital within 15 days and a mock drill was conducted today,” Ramgarh deputy commissioner (DC) Sandip Singh had tweeted on April 15.

Dr Vinay Mishra, district reproduction and child health officer, on Saturday confirmed that the isolation centre was ready and would be used whenever the next Covid-19 suspect was detected.

Dhanbad district administration has marked all important Covid-19 facilities such as hospitals, isolation and quarantine centres, community kitchens and daal-bhat kendras on Google Maps for people to locate them easily.

“The map is interactive and provides information such as name of the place, address, contact numbers, services offered and the way to reach it,” an IPRD (information and public relations department) release stated.

The Telegraph has already reported how the twin innovations — both conceptualised and designed by West Singhbhum deputy development commissioner (DDC) Aditya Ranjan — are helping the district fight the coronavirus pandemic. While a Cov-bot, or a Covid robot, is being used to minimise contact between Covid-19 patients and healthcare staff looking after them, a phone booth- like installation is being used to collect samples for testing for the novel coronavirus.

Districts such as Dumka, Hazaribagh and Bokaro have come up with innovative ideas to keep people creatively engaged and ward off boredom during the lockdown.

Dumka district administration is using its social media pages to announce a competition every morning along with its rules and regulations.

Those interested can upload their entries in categories such as fancy dress, dress-making and mehendi contests by uploading their photos and wait for the results the next day.

The Hazaribagh administration has tied up with Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society to engage women’s self-help groups in making masks and personal protective equipment (PPE) at a cheaper rate without compromising on their quality.

Bokaro district administration, on the other hand, has announced a weeklong virtual workshops on Facebook that started on April 16. Beginning with yoga, the topics include talk show, carrier counselling, skill development in photography and painting besides Bollywood songs and ghazals.