Jharkhand on Sunday reported less than 50 cases of Covid-19 infection for the third consecutive day, while recoveries outnumbered fresh cases, bringing the total count of Covid-19 patients in the state down to 553, figures compiled by the health department highlighted.

Ranchi reported 21 of the 41 cases that surfaced in Jharkhand on the day, while it also accounted for 44 of the 63 recoveries. Ranchi is the only district in Jharkhand with more than 100 active cases of infection. All the remaining 23 districts either have less than 100 active cases or no cases at all. As many as 279 people were battling a Covid-19 infection in Ranchi by the end of Sunday.

While the trend of a rapid fall in the number of patients continued on the day, a resident of Bokaro died of Covid-19 during treatment, taking the Covid toll in the state to 1072, a bulletin released by the National Health Mission (NHM) stated.

The government on Sunday tested swab samples of 6600 people and less than 1 per cent of them were found infected. So far, as many as 1,18,296 people have been infected by the deadly virus in the state and more than 98% of them have recovered.

As per government data, the growth rate of Covid-19 infection in Jharkhand was 0.04 per cent against the national average of 0.10 per cent. At the current rate, it would take more than 1700 days for the number of cases to double in Jharkhand. The national doubling rate was 662 days.

The government also inoculated 139 people in Hazaribag against the Covid-19 virus on Sunday, the NHM stated in a separate report. Vaccination was not held in other districts on the day. So far, as many as 40,855 people have been administered the Covishield shots in Jharkhand.