Less than 1 per cent of the 19,000-odd people tested for Covid-19 in Jharkhand on Friday were found infected, while nearly 200 patients recovered from the infection on the day, causing a marginal rise in the Covid recovery rate in the state and a fall in the number of active cases, figures compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM) highlighted.

As many as 189 people, including 71 from Ranchi and 24 from East Singhbhum, were found to be Covid positive on Friday, stated a bulletin released by the National Health Mission (NHM). Of the 195 people who overcame the viral infection in Jharkhand on the day, at least 65 were from Ranchi and 27 from East Singhbhum. These two districts account for around 50 per cent of active Covid-19 cases in Jharkhand.

Meanwhile, one more person from East Singhbhum died of Covid-19 infection, taking the count of Covid fatalities in the state to 962 and that in East Singhbhum alone to 351. The district has accounted for highest Covid casualties among all the 24 districts in Jharkhand so far.

While Chatra, Khunti and Koderma did not report even a single case of Covid-19 infection on the day, at least 17 districts reported a single-digit-spike in Covid cases, the NHM bulletin stated. Dhanbad reported three fresh cases against 16 recoveries, while Latehar reported 14 fresh cases and no recoveries in the past 24 hours.

As per government data, of the 2,162 active cases of Covid-19 infection in Jharkhand, at least 774 were from Ranchi and 314 were from East Singhbhum. Barring Ranchi, East Singhbhum, Dhanbad and Bokaro, all the remaining 20 districts had fewer active cases than 100.

The government on Friday tested swab samples of 18,966 people, but over 16,000 swab samples were still pending for Covid tests, government data revealed. Health workers have so far collected swab samples of 40.21 lakh people and tested around 40.04 lakh of them. Of the over 40 lakh people tested, as many as 1,08,577 were found infected and 1,05,453 of them have recovered. The Covid-19 recovery rate in Jharkhand was 97.12 per cent against the national average of 93.60 per cent.

The growth rate of the virus in Jharkhand was 0.16 per cent against the national average of 0.40 per cent, while the doubling rate of the infection in Jharkhand was 420.71 days against the national average of 172.42 days. The Covid mortality rate in Jharkhand was 0.88 per cent against the national Covid mortality rate of 1.50 per cent.