The number of Covid-19 cases surfacing in a day across Jharkhand dropped below the 500 mark for the first time on Sunday since August, figures compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM) highlighted.

As many as 385 people were found infected by the Covid-19 virus in Jharkhand on Sunday, while 452 Covid patients recovered on the day, causing a further rise in the Covid-19 recovery rate in the state, government data stated. On an average, the state reported around 1000 cases of Covid-19 infection daily throughout September and October.

However, the low count of fresh cases surfacing on Sunday could also be attributed to fewer tests conducted on the day. As per government data, health workers on Sunday tested swab samples of 16,638 people. Throughout this month, the government has been testing more than 20,000 people for Covid-19 every day, government records show.

While the Covid-19 recovery rate shot up at 92.38 per cent in the state on Sunday, casualties continued to haunt residents and doctors. At least seven more Covid patients, including three from Ranchi, died during treatment on the day, taking the Covid toll in Jharkhand to 839, a bulletin released by the NHM stated.

Ranchi on Sunday accounted for more than half of the fresh Covid cases surfacing in Jharkhand. Of the 385 cases, as many as 198 were from Ranchi, the district which has a Covid tally of 24,146, the highest among all districts in Jharkhand. East Singhbhum on Sunday reported only 20 cases, while Dhanbad and Bokaro reported 17 and 23 cases respectively.

As per government data, there were 2355 active cases of Covid-19 in Ranchi on Sunday night. As many as 6502 people were battling the lethal virus across Jharkhand and over 1300 of them were from East Singhbhum. Government figures also highlight that Ranchi and East Singhbhum account for nearly 60 per cent of active cases in the state.

The seven deaths on Sunday caused a minor increase in the Covid mortality rate in Jharkhand, but it was still lower than the national average. Jharkhand’s Covid mortality rate, as on Sunday evening, was 0.87 per cent against the national average of 1.50 per cent. The national Covid recovery rate was 88 per cent against Jharkhand’s 92.38 per cent.

The government has so far collected swab samples of around 28.64 lakh people and tested 28.48 lakh of them. As many as 96,352 of the 28.5 lakh people tested in Jharkhand were found Covid positive. The growth rate of the virus in Jharkhand, as per government data, was 0.59 per cent, while the doubling rate was 115.8 days.