The count of fresh cases of Covid-19 infection reported in Jharkhand in a day broke all past records on Wednesday as an unprecedented 314 suspects tested positive for the coronavirus in 24 hours, health officials said.

So far, the highest-ever single-day spike in cases was reported on Tuesday after 244 people tested positive for Covid-19. The number of fresh cases of infection reported on Tuesday itself was a record high as the count of fresh cases surfacing in a day never crossed the 200 mark in Jharkhand since March 31, when the first case was recorded.

The Covid-19 death toll in the state also jumped to 38 in the past 24 hours after two patients, one in Hazaribagh and another in East Singhbhum, died during treatment, health officials said. Both the victims, officials said, had co-morbid illnesses.

Wednesday’s numbers take the total tally of Covid-19 cases in Jharkhand to 4,562, a bulletin released by the National Health Mission (NHM) stated. The number of Covid-19 cases in the state has almost doubled since June 30, government data reveals.

With increasing death toll, the state’s Covid-19 mortality rate on Wednesday reached 0.83 per cent, against the national average of 2.62 per cent, the NHM bulletin highlighted. The recovery rate in the state dropped to 54.47 per cent, which is much lower than the national average of 63.02 per cent, the bulletin further stated. As many as 57 Covid-19 patients recovered on Wednesday.

The government has so far collected samples of two lakh suspects and tested 1.96 lakh of them. As per government data, there are 2,039 active cases of Covid-19 in Jharkhand and 2,485 patients have recovered.

While the government has been in denial about community transmission in the state, many experts have warned that Jharkhand could be headed for community transmission of the coronavirus.

Ranchi, which has reported the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Jharkhand, also topped the list of districts where fresh cases surfaced on Wednesday. At least 71 of the 314 fresh cases reported on Wednesday were from Ranchi, health officials said.

The government has put 2.7 lakh people in home quarantine, while over 24,000 people have been sent to institutional quarantine.