Jharkhand reported nine more Covid deaths in the last 24 hours while recording 2,015 new cases and 3,814 recoveries.

State health department officials see the week-long dip in new cases, compared to recoveries, as a silver lining that could indicate a possible slowdown of the ongoing third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Active cases in Jharkhand have now come down to 23,770. Total deaths are at 5,244.

East Singhbhum reported three deaths, Deoghar and Ranchi two each. One fatality each was registered in Dhanbad and Khunti. Ranchi logged 487 new cases, East Singhbhum 466, Godda 146 and Bokaro 116. Giridh and Jamtara recorded two and three cases each. The remaining 18 districts reported double digit spikes in the last 24 hours, according to the state's Covid bulletin issued on Friday night.

In terms of hospitalisations, only five patients were on ventilator support and 200 in oxygen-supported beds. The remanin number of Covid positive people are asymptomatic and under home isolation.

According to a health department official, the wave seems to be flattening in the state going by the trend of recoveries over a week.

“On January 10, the state reported 4,482 new cases with a positivity rate of 6.34. Friday night saw 2015 new cases with a positivity rate of 3.15. Although there were nine more deaths, the overall rate of infection in the state is certainly on the wane," he said.

Cities like Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Bokaro are still reporting triple-digit figures of new caes owing to several reasons. These towns act as key transit points of the state and there is always a large number of people travelling to and from the state.