At least four Jharkhand districts – Pakur, Jamtara, Giridih and Godda – have become Covid-free with zero active cases, while eight other districts are close to achieving the tag with each reporting less than five Covid-19 patients, government data released on Saturday morning highlighted.

As per figures compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM), West Singhbhum, Sahebganj, Ramgarh, Palamau, Khunti, Garhwa, Deoghar and Simdega reported less than five active cases of Covid-19 on Saturday morning, indicating a downward trend of infections in primarily rural areas, say experts.

Urban areas, however, still account for more than 70 per cent of active cases in Jharkhand. As per a bulletin released by the NHM on Saturday morning, Ranchi accounted for 221 of the 441 active cases in Jharkhand, while 60 patients were battling the viral infection in East Singhbhum. There were 17 active cases in Dhanbad and 18 in Bokaro.

The four districts that have zero active cases of infection are mostly rural and have limited urban clusters. The state coordinator of Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dr Ajay Kumar Singh, said that a stronger immune system of people living in villages as compared to city residents could be one of the reasons for the rapid fall in active cases in some districts.

“People living in the rural areas have a stronger immune system. Also, they do not socialise as much as city residents, so the chance of transmission from one person to another is less,” said Singh.

On Friday, as many as 36 people were found infected by the virus in Jharkhand while at least 51 patients recovered, stated an NHM bulletin. Ranchi and East Singhbhum reported 13 and eight fresh cases respectively on the day. At least 14 districts did not report fresh cases of Covid-19 infection, the bulletin further stated.

The government on Friday tested swab samples of 12,549 people and not even 1 per cent of them were found infected. Almost 1,400 people were tested in the four Covid-free districts on Friday, but none of them was found infected. Swab samples of 241 people were tested in Giridih, 447 in Jamtara, 540 in Pakur and 145 in Godda, highlights government data.

As per government data, as many as 1,19,242 people have been infected by the Covid-19 virus in Jharkhand so far, and 98.72 per cent of them have recovered. The virus has claimed 1,081 lives in Jharkhand, but the state’s Covid mortality rate was still lower than the national average. As per government records, it would take more than 2197 days for the cases to double in Jharkhand at the current pace.