Jharkhand reported zero Covid casualties in a day for the first time on Saturday since the second wave of the pandemic hit the tribal state earlier this year, data compiled by the health department revealed. The active caseload also dropped below 4,000 as the state reported twice as many Covid recoveries as fresh cases of infection.

As per a bulletin released by the National Health Mission (NHM), 493 patients recovered from the viral infection on Saturday, while 239 people were found infected by novel coronavirus. By the end of Saturday, at least 3,966 Jharkhand residents were battling Covid-19.

Barring East Singhbhum, all the districts reported less than 50 cases of infections on the day. At least 51 people were found infected in East Singhbhum while 91 patients recovered there, bringing the active caseload down to 722, the NHM stated in its bulletin.

At least 78 recoveries against 27 cases brought the active caseload in Ranchi down to 1,236 – the only district with more than 1,000 active cases of Covid-19. Among other districts, Dhanbad reported 12 cases against 17 recoveries, while Bokaro reported only six cases and 17 recoveries. At least 23 people were found infected in Hazaribag and 46 patients recovered there.

The high mortality rate in the state was a cause for concern lately and zero fatalities reported on Saturday came as a major relief, health officials said. So far, as many as 5,082 Jharkhand residents have died of Covid-19 and 1,579 of them were from Ranchi alone. With 1,029 casualties, East Singhbhum accounts for the second highest number of deaths among the 24 districts in the state.

The state on Saturday tested swab samples of 43,653 residents and the positivity rate on the day was less than 0.5 per cent. As per government data, over 3.43 lakh people have been infected by Coronavirus in the state so far and 97.36 per cent of them have recovered, while 1.48 per cent of them have died.

The growth rate of Covid cases also dropped to 0.09 per cent in the state against the national average of 0.22 per cent on the day, while the doubling rate in Jharkhand further rose to 796.09 days against the national doubling rate of 314.44 days.

The state on Saturday administered the first dose of vaccine against Covid-19 to as many as 95,730 residents, including 2984 senior citizens and over 50,000 residents in the age bracket of 18 years to 44 years. As many as 13,113 residents received their second jab on the day.