The Covid toll in Jharkhand drew close to the 4000-mark on Monday as 129 more patients, including 35 from Ranchi and 16 from East Singhbhum, succumbed to the viral infection in the past 24 hours, figures compiled by the State health department highlighted.

While the state continued to report a triple-digit-spike in fatalities, the active caseload witnessed a dip for the second consecutive day as recoveries outnumbered fresh cases of infection in Jharkhand on Monday. As per a bulletin released by the National Health Mission (NHM), as many as 6962 Covid patients recovered from the infection against 6187 fresh cases that occurred on the day, bringing the active caseload down to 57,902.

Ranchi on Monday reported thrice as many recoveries as fresh cases, thereby witnessing a significant fall in the active caseload. As per the NHM bulletin, at least 1704 Covid patients recovered here while 526 people were found infected. Monday’s findings brought the active caseload in Ranchi down to 17,929. However, with 35 casualties reported on the day, the Covid toll in the district jumped to 1251, NHM data revealed. Ranchi accounts for almost 30 per cent of the 3982 Covid casualties reported in the state so far.

Recoveries outnumbered fresh cases of infection in East Singhbhum as well. As per government data, the district reported 1094 recoveries against 1015 cases, which brought the active caseload down to 5,601. The 16 casualties there took the Covid toll to 827, NHM stated in its bulletin.

Among other districts, Bokaro reported 623 cases against 300 recoveries, while Gumla reported 288 cases against 220 recoveries. As many as 360 Hazaribag residents were found infected on the day while 668 patients recovered in the district. Pakur also reported 450 cases of Coronavirus infection, while at least 300 people were found infected in Koderma.

The state on Monday tested swab samples of 1,00,724 residents and around 6 per cent of them were found infected. The figures indicate that the positivity rate in Jharkhand dropped significantly on the day. So far, over 2.92 lakh people have been infected by the mysterious virus in the state and 78.84 per cent of them have recovered, stated the NHM bulletin.

As per government data, the growth rate of cases in the state was 1.85 per cent against the national average of 1.33 per cent. The growth rate of Covid cases in the state has dropped from over 2.5 per cent a fortnight ago. Meanwhile, the doubling rate has also improved. As per NHM data, it would take 37.86 days for the cases to double in Jharkhand against the national average of 52.40 days. The Covid mortality rate in the state, however, was 1.36 per cent, which is higher than the national average of 1.10 per cent.

The state administered the first dose of vaccine against Covid-19 to 12,339 residents on the day, while the second dose was administered to 18,128 residents, stated a separate report from the NHM.