Chief minister Hemant Soren on Saturday said that his government will focus on “testing, tracking and treatment” in rural areas of the state to ensure that the second wave of Covid-19 does not regain its strength after a fall in the active caseload owing to strict restrictions and effective treatment measures.

The Covid recovery rate in the state, he said, had crossed 90 per cent and the positivity rate in the past couple of days has been around 4 per cent. While the chief minister thanked doctors, caregivers and the people of Jharkhand for the drop in cases, he admitted that Covid-19 was yet to reach its peak.

“Although numbers show a fall in cases and the infection rate, we cannot afford to be complacent at this stage as we are still facing the peak of the second wave of Covid-19,” said Hemant.

"Even if one person dies of Covid-19 on day in Jharkhand, the government and the health machinery will neither celebrate its success in curtailing the infection nor show any complacency," he said, indicating that the existing lockdown-like restrictions will be in place for a longer period.

As per government data, Jharkhand’s doubling rate was 112.09 days against the national average of 91.28 days. The recovery rate in the state was 91.05 per cent against the national average of 87.20 per cent. However, the Covid mortality rate in Jharkhand was still 1.45 per cent against the national Covid mortality rate of 1.10 per cent.

“We will intensify testing, tracking and treatment in rural areas of the state and also issue SOPs for the third wave of Covid-19 in order to be prepared for any form of crisis,” Hemant said.

The chief minister also admitted that many residents of the state were facing difficulty in registering themselves for vaccination and getting slots for jabs against Covid-19. The government, he said, was working on measures to ease the process of vaccination and residents would soon be able to get a hassle-free vaccination experience.

Hemant thanked the Indian Army for treating Covid patients in military hospitals in the state and providing the best possible medical facilities to them. A press communique from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on Saturday stated that at least 100 Covid patients have recovered from the deadly viral infection after undergoing treatment at the Military Hospital in Namkum.

On April 21, Hemant had sought the support of manpower and health facilities of the Indian Army for treatment of civilians suffering from Covid-19 in the state.