At least 29 new cases of COVID-19 infection surfaced in Jharkhand while a migrant labourer from West Bengal died of the viral infection in Ranchi on Tuesday, health officials said. The fresh cases were reported from 11 districts, including Palamu, Dhanbad and East Singhbhum – a district that did not report even a single case of COVID-19 until last month, officials added.
Doctors from Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) said that the deceased migrant worker is originally from Bardhaman district of the neighbouring state. "He was admitted in RIMS after he sustained some minor injuries. However, he tested positive for COVID-19," said RIMS Director Dr. DK Singh. "The man died on Tuesday evening," he added.
One of the three coronavirus positive cases recently reported in Jamshedpur was a 24-year-old girl who had returned home at Bidhyapati Nagar in Baridih from Kolkata. As she had moved in the neighbourhood before being put in home quarantine, the health department has set up a containment zone. Another coronavirus positive patient, who is a 30-year-old woman, is wife of a Jharkhand Armed Police (JAP) jawan. The woman returned from Arah district of Bihar and started living in the JAP - VI camp area before she was put in the home quarantine.
According to figures with the National Health Mission (NHM), at least 170 COVID-19 patients have recovered in Jharkhand so far. There are more than 240 active cases in State as reported on Tuesday late evening.
More than half of the 430 odd people infected by COVID-19 virus so far in Jharkhand are in the age bracket of 11 to 30 years – a trend that highlights how young people were as prone to the virus as their older counterparts, health officials said. Out of the 437 cases, 234 are in the age bracket of 11 to 30 years and 148 in rhe age bracket of 31 to 50 years, an NHM report said.
Most of the migrant workers testing positive for COVID-19 are also under the age of 40 years, said an NHM official. As many as 252 migrant workers have tested positive in Jharkhand since May 5 – a trend that highlights how the return of migrant workers was turning out to become a reason for spurt in cases, health officials said.
The Government has so far collected samples of 60,951 COVID-19 suspects from across the State, and more than 430 of them have tested positive. At least 53309 of the 60,000 odd samples collected have been tested so far, the NHM report said.