A disaster does not favour any caste or religion, chief minister Hemant Soren said on Sunday, strongly debunking any communal narrative in the coronavirus pandemic raging across the world.

Jharkhand has confirmed 41 infections on Sunday, with 39 active cases and two deaths since the pandemic surfaced in the state in March.

Hemant, who gave an interview to a news portal, which has been uploaded on YouTube, said that the infection had started spreading in other countries much before the Tablighi Jamaat event (in Delhi’s Nizamuddin in March second week) and the Centre was aware of it.

“Screening could have been done at that stage. Some people are trying to politicise the issue,” the CM said without singling out any group or party.

A young Malaysian woman who attended the Nizamuddin event, and subsequently came to Ranchi’s Hindpiri, was the first confirmed case of coronavirus in Jharkhand.

The chief minister added they would need the Centre’s help once the lockdown lifts.

Asked how Jharkhand would meet the demand of food and jobs when faced with a deluge of around 8 lakh workers, now stranded across India, as they return home after the lockdown, he said: “Yes, we are concerned about all of them.”

“Once the lockdown is over, many problems relating to finance, jobs, health and food are likely to crop up and we will need help from the Centre to tackle them,” he added.

“We are trying to help them out even now,” Hemant said, referring to the mobile app launched to register the workers, and send each of them at least Rs 1,000 through direct bank transfer.

Pointed out that the state had only about 42,000 quarantine beds that would prove inadequate for migrant labourers if they are screened on their return, the CM didn't reply about the number of beds but said testing kits would not be a problem. “More kits are coming in as existing stocks are getting exhausted,” he said.

“We are facing the challenge bravely,” he said on the state’s fight against coronavirus. “The number of tests done so far — about 3,500 — may not be satisfactory but the numbers are rising fast.”

Each of the 4,500 panchayats of the state has two community kitchens, the CM said, adding dry ration was supplied in areas inhabited by the poor.

The CM added that his government was exploring possibilities for creating jobs.

He was, at the same time, sceptical if the factories could run immediately. He pointed out that the Centre had directed owners to put up workers within or near the factory premises with social distancing, but not many factories had these facilities or space.

“Crops are standing in fields and vegetables are dumped with no labourers to attend to them. Things will take a long time to become normal,” he said. “We haven’t demanded any package as of now but have apprised the Prime Minister of our needs.”

Hemant hinted that the state was discriminated against in the matter of MGNREGA wages. “It is below Rs 200 per day here, which is much less than wages in many other states,” he said.

On Saturday, Hemant had tweeted that if buses could be sent to bring students of Uttar Pradesh home from Rajasthan, the Centre should have arranged buses for students and workers of Jharkhand.