At least 2,373 cases of Covid-19 infection took the active caseload above 12,000 in Jharkhand on Saturday, while the Covid toll jumped to 1,192 as the state reported 17 casualties in 24 hours, figures compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM) highlighted.

Ranchi and East Singhbhum – the districts with high urban population – reported the bulk of the cases and fatalities on the day. While Ranchi reported 904 cases and five deaths, East Singhbhum reported 303 cases and four deaths on Saturday, stated a bulletin released by the NHM.

As per government data, Dhanbad and Hazaribagh also reported a triple digit spike for the first time in 2021 on Saturday. As many as 148 people were found infected in Dhanbad, while 167 Hazaribag residents tested positive for Covid-19 on the day. The state reported 667 Covid recoveries on the day, including 201 in East Singhbhum and 194 in Ranchi.

With only 194 recoveries against the over 900 cases, the active caseload in Ranchi reached 5,927 on Saturday, the highest among the 24 Jharkhand districts. As per NHM data, the active caseload in East Singhbhum was 1344, while that in Dhanbad was 487 by the end of Saturday. As many as 435 people were battling the viral infection in Hazaribagh.

Bokaro in Dhanbad reported two Covid casualties each on the day, while Dumka, Giridih, Pakur and West Singhbhum reported one casualty each. So far, East Singhbhum has reported 367 Covid deaths, while Ranchi accounts for 295 of the 1,192 Covid fatalities in the state so far.

The growth rate of infection reached 1.07 per cent on Saturday against the national average of 0.69 per cent, while the doubling rate dropped down to 65.12 days against the national average of 101.42 days. The figures indicate that it would take only 65-odd days for the Covid cases to double in Jharkhand.

As per government data, as many as 1,37,088 people have been infected by the deadly virus in Jharkhand so far and 90.16 per cent of them have recovered. The recovery rate has dropped from close to 99 per cent in mid-March, while the doubling rate in the state has dropped drastically from over 2,500 days in mid-March to less than 100 days in April.

Meanwhile, the state on Saturday administered the first dose of the vaccine against Covid-19 to 90,243 people, thereby achieving 75 per cent of the target for the day. The second dose was administered to only 6,613 people, hardly 3 per cent of the beneficiaries registered for the jab on the day.