The trajectory of active cases of Covid-19 infection saw an upward trend in Ranchi for the second consecutive day as only 32 patients recovered from the infection in the state capital against 66 fresh cases reported on Thursday, figures compiled by the state health department highlighted.

While the number of active cases of the viral infection jumped to 960 from 926 on Wednesday, the count of active cases reduced in almost all the other districts in Jharkhand, including East Singhbhum, Dhanbad and Bokaro, a bulletin released by the National Health Mission (NHM) stated.

As per government data, as many as 230 fresh cases of Covid-19 infection surfaced in Jharkhand on Thursday, while 264 patients recovered, bringing down the total active cases in the state to 2,600.

Godda and Dumka did not report even a single case of Covid-19 infection on the day, while none of the districts saw a three-digit-spike in the Covid caseload. Bokaro reported 35 cases against 55 recoveries, while East Singhbhum reported 33 fresh cases against 51 recoveries. At least 17 people were found infected in Dhanbad and 34 recovered there.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 toll rose to 937 after three more patients died during treatment in 24 hours, the NHM bulletin revealed. Bokaro, Dhanbad and East Singhbhum reported one Covid casualty each on the day, taking the toll in East Singhbhum alone to 349 – the highest among all districts in Jharkhand.

The government on Thursday tested swab samples of 18,543 people and more than 1 per cent of them were found infected. While the government claims to have intensified Covid testing in the state, around 16,000 swab samples were still pending for lab test on Thursday, the NHM bulletin showed.

So far, health workers in Jharkhand have collected swab samples of around 38.82 lakh people and tested 38.66 lakh of them. Of the over 38 lakh people tested so far, as many as 1,06.972 were found to be Covid positive. At least 1,03,435 of Covid patients have recovered from the infection, taking the recovery rate in Jharkhand up at 96.69 per cent against the national average of 93.60 per cent.

As per government data, the growth rate of Covid-19 in Jharkhand was 0.16 per cent against the national average of 0.37 per cent. The doubling rate of the viral infection in the state was 433 days against the national average of 186.90 days. The mortality rate in Jharkhand was 0.87 per cent against the national Covid-19 mortality rate of 1.50 per cent, the NHM bulletin stated.