Jharkhand continued to report a triple-digit-spike in Covid deaths on Sunday as at least 115 patients, including 42 from Ranchi alone, died during treatment in the past 24 hours, taking the Covid toll in the state close to the 3000-mark, figures compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM) highlighted.

However, the state reported a spike of less than 5000 cases on the day after fresh cases breaching the 5000-mark daily in the past one week. As many as 4,738 people were found infected by Coronavirus in the state on Sunday while 4541 Covid patients recovered from the infection, a bulletin released by the NHM stated.

Even though the number of fresh cases dropped slightly on Sunday in comparison to the past one week, the positivity rate in the state was still 18.63 per cent, which is higher than the positivity rate in some of the worst-affected states in India.

As per NHM data, Jharkhand on Sunday tested swab samples of as many as 25,421 residents. The over 4700 fresh cases took the Covid tally in the state to 2,44,472 while the active caseload jumped to 58,519. Around 75 per cent of the over 2.44 lakh people infected by the virus in Jharkhand so far was recovered, highlights government data.

Ranchi not only reported the highest number of casualties but also the highest spike in cases on the day. As per NHM data, as many as 913 people were found infected by the deadly virus in Ranchi on Sunday while 792 patients recovered. The active caseload in the district on Sunday reached 20,163, which is the highest among the 24 districts in Jharkhand. The 42 deaths on the day took the toll in Ranchi to 939.

Meanwhile, East Singhbhum reported 652 cases against 780 recoveries and continued to witness a downward trend in the active caseload. As per government data, as many as 5,931 East Singhbhum residents were battling Coronavirus infection by the end of Sunday. The district also reported 12 casualties on the day, which took the toll there up at 645.

As per government data, the growth rate of infection dropped to 2.39 per cent in Jharkhand on Sunday. However, it was still higher than the national average of 1.49 per cent. The doubling rate also improved on the day and reached 29.40 days, revealed NHM data. The doubling rate in the state was also lower than the national average of 46.84 days.

The state on Sunday administered the first dose of vaccine against Covid-19 to 4200 people, while the second dose was administered to as many as 5607 beneficiaries. Jharkhand is yet to start vaccination for people in the age bracket of 18 to 44 years.