With a drop in Covid cases and fatalities, the Jharkhand government has shifted its focus on post-Covid complications and causes of death among survivors, officials said on Sunday, adding that the health department has directed all 24 districts to send in data related to health disorders and casualties reported at dedicated post-Covid care facilities to the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) every day.

The National Health Mission (NHM) director, in a letter addressed to all the deputy commissioners recently, asked them to send details such as the number of visits by Covid survivors, number of admitted patients, number of patients receiving physiotherapy or any alternate therapy, number of patients discharged and the number of fatalities at post-Covid care centres every day by 5pm.

“So far, no fatalities have been reported at any of the post-Covid care centres. We started compiling data related to post-Covid complications on Saturday, and it is too early to draw any inference on the types of health disorders that were most prevalent among Covid survivors in the state,” said Dr Ranjit Mandal, the nodal officer appointed for post-Covid care centres in Jharkhand.

The decision of reporting daily entries and treatments at post-Covid care centres comes close on the heels of the reportage of a new crippling condition called "bone death" among Covid survivors in some parts of India. Avascular necrosis, a health complication that causes the death of bone tissues, has been reported in some Covid survivors in Pune who were treated with high doses of steroids during treatment.

Even though no cases of avascular necrosis have been reported in Jharkhand, doctors say that patients in early stages of this condition may seek physiotherapy. Health experts monitoring physiotherapy at post-Covid care centres may be able to diagnose bone death in patients depending on their symptoms and some tests such as X-Ray, doctors added.

Jharkhand has operational post-Covid care centres in all 24 districts. Many cases of Covid-induced mucormycosis, or black fungus, also came to light at these centres earlier this year.

As per the latest directive from the health department, the districts also need to mention the number of patients who were referred to “higher centres” from the post-Covid care centres for better treatment.

Even those patients who do not need hospitalization for Covid treatment may suffer from severe ailments post-recovery and need medical attention, say doctors. Several cases of lung fibrosis and cardiovascular disease in Covid survivors were also reported in the state during the first as well as the second wave.

As per government data, as many as 3,46,279 Jharkhand residents have been infected by SARS-CoV-2 virus so far and more than 98 per cent of them have recovered.