The active caseload of Covid-19 dropped below the 20,000-mark in Jharkhand and 5000-mark in Ranchi on Sunday as the state reported 4375 Covid recoveries against only 1345 fresh cases of infection, figures compiled by the health department highlighted.

However, the Covid toll in Ranchi breached the 1500-mark on the day as the district alone reported 12 of 37 casualties on Sunday, taking the Covid toll here to 1501 and that in Jharkhand to 4838, a bulletin released by the National Health Mission (NHM) stated.

At least 159 people were found infected in Ranchi on the day while 609 Covid patients recovered here. In East Singhbhum, 172 residents were found infected and 335 patients recovered. East Singbhum also reported nine Covid deaths on the day, which took the toll in the district to 974, NHM stated in its bulletin.

As per government data, at least 19,499 people were battling Coronavirus infection in Jharkhand by the end of Sunday and 4,580 of them were from Ranchi. In East Singhbhum, the active caseload was 1,725. Barring Ranchi and East Singhbhum, all the remaining 22 districts in Jharkhand reported a spike of less than 100 in the Covid caseload on Sunday.

Bokaro reported 81 cases against 173 recoveries, while Dhanbad reported 94 cases against 397 recoveries. In Hazaribag, 73 residents were found infected and 232 patients recovered from 10 pm on Saturday to 10 pm on Sunday, NHM data stated.

The state on Sunday tested swab samples of 41,251 people and less than 4 per cent of them were found infected. So far, over 3.30 lakh people have been infected by Coronavirus in Jharkhand and 92.63 per cent of them have recovered, highlighted NHM data.

The growth rate of infection in Jharkhand also dropped to 0.55 per cent against the national average of 0.72 per cent on the day, while the doubling rate in the state rose to 126.76 days against the national average of 96.41 days. The Covid mortality rate in Jharkhand, however, was still higher than the national average of 1.10 per cent. As per government data, at least 1.46 per cent of Covid patients have died in Jharkhand so far.

The state on Sunday administered the first dose of vaccine against Covid-19 to at least 42,879 residents and 38110 of them were in the age bracket of 18 years to 44 years. The second jab was administered to 1732 residents, mostly commoners above the age of 45 years, stated a separate report from NHM.