The active caseload of Covid-19 crossed the 150-mark in Jharkhand on Thursday as fresh cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection outnumbered Covid recoveries in the state for the third day in a row, figures compiled by the health department highlighted.

According to a bulletin released by the National Health Mission (NHM), at least 27 fresh Covid cases against 12 Covid recoveries took the active Covid caseload in the state to 154. Ranchi alone accounted for 18 cases with the active caseload jumping to 94 as only six patients recovered from the viral infection in the district.

At least 20 of 24 districts did not report fresh Covid cases on Thursday. Dhanbad reported four cases against one recovery, while East Sighbhum reported two cases and the same number of recoveries. At least three people were found infected in Deoghar, while no patient recovered from the viral infection there.

While the trajectory of active Covid cases witnessed an upward trend, the vaccination numbers in Jharkhand could not cross the 1-lakh-mark on Thursday. The state vaccinated close to 80,000 residents.

As per provisional data released by the National Health Mission (NHM), the state on Thursday administered the first dose of vaccine to as many as 57,539 residents, while the second jab was administered to at least 22,200 beneficiaries.

Ranchi vaccinated about 11,000 residents on Thursday, the highest among the 24 districts in Jharkhand, NHM data highlighted.

According to a press communique from the health department, Jharkhand has so far administered the first dose of vaccine against Covid-19 to over 1.14 crore residents and around 30 lakh of them have also received the second jab.

The state, as per government records, had at least 15.38 lakh vaccine doses in stock before the session sites opened their doors on Thursday. As per government data, there were 1.5 lakh Covaxin doses and 13.87 lakh Covishield doses in stock before vaccination began on Thursday.

The state on Thursday tested swab samples of 49,950 residents and 0.05 per cent of them were found infected. As per government data, over 3.48 Jharkhand residents have been infected by Coronavirus so far and 98.48 per cent of them have recovered, while 1.47 per cent of patients could not survive.