Jharkhand continues to witness a declining trend in Covid-19 deaths amid signs that the second wave of the pandemic is ebbing. As corona is getting controlled day-by-day, the number of fresh cases is decreasing constantly while at the same time the number of people recovering from infection is increasing. This is the reason behind the State recovery rate improving rapidly. In the last 10 days, the recovery rate of Corona patients in the State has gone up by 4.89 per cent. On May 20, the state recovery rate was 90.38 per cent, while on Saturday (May 29) the recovery rate went up to 95.27 per cent. The national recovery rate is 91.22 per cent. Along with this, the number of active caseloads too has dropped. Ten days back the number of active cases was 26,551, while it went down to 17,564 on Saturday.
On Saturday, 823 fresh cases were found in the state while at the same time 1647 patients recovered from infection. On Saturday, only two districts Ranchi and East Singhbhum were having more than 100 fresh cases. In Ranchi on Saturday 104 fresh cases were discovered while in East Singhbhum 101 fresh cases were found. Among the districts reporting least cases were Pakur and Sahibganj—the two districts reported four and six fresh cases respectively. Also, on Saturday several districts reported zero casualties. Ranchi which a few weeks back used to report more than fifty casualties on Saturday reported four deaths; similarly East Singhbhum reported three deaths.
Officials claim that the drop in fresh cases is due to strict lockdown imposed by the state government which has resulted in breaking the chain of infection. A senior official at Indian Medical Association (IMA) requesting anonymity said, “Due to strict lockdown, infection has been reduced resulting in a drop of fresh cases.” Battling a sharp surge in Covid-19 cases during the second wave, the state government has extended the lockdown till June 27. Restrictions with stricter provisions, including seven days mandatory quarantine for people visiting the state, are now in place are some of the measures taken by the state government.
People moving on streets are restricted after 2 pm and for those on emergency requirement e-passes provisions have been introduced. The state has suspended the operation of intra- and inter-city bus services and put a cap on people attending weddings at 11 among others.
In a bid to protect its citizens from the deadly disease, Jharkhand has introduced block panchayat level testing. Covid task force at block level has been constituted. The Government focused on creating a nine-member task force at block level. The task force will be headed by Block Development Officer (BDO) and it will comprise members from block, panchayat level too. The task force will work in coordination with other officers of district administration ensuring proper testing of suspected Covid patients, facilities for arrangement of setting up isolation centres, availability of medicines and ambulance facilities for patients and other arrangements required for treatment of patients.
