The trajectory of Covid-19 transmission in Jharkhand witnessed an upward movement on Thursday after at least 22 new cases were reported from five districts here on Thursday, health officials said. Out of the 22 odd cases, seven were reported from Palamu, six from Hazaribag and five from Ranchi. Besides, two cases surfaced in Hazaribag and one each in Koderma and Jamshedpur, health officials added.
Earlier in the day, Health Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni said that at least 64 migrant workers who returned from other states have tested positive in the past eight days – a statement that clarifies how the return of migrant workers was causing an upward trend in the Covid-19 trajectory here. "Most of the suspects who tested positive today (Thursday) are migrant workers. They returned from different parts of the country," he said.
With Thursday's findings, the number of Covid-19 cases in Jharkhand shot up to 203, officials said. However, 87 of them have recovered from the viral infection, while two have died of Covid-19 and one of cardiomyopathy, they added.
The number of containment zones in Jharkhand have also increased from 33 to 63 in the course of a fortnight. Kulkarni said that 25 red zones have been identified across the country, and passengers traveling to Jharkhand from these zones will be put in Government quarantine for tests. They will later be allowed to stay in home quarantine, he added. "There are 63 containment zones in Jharkhand and more than 1 lakh people live in these areas," said Kulkarni.
The Government has collected samples of over 30,000 Covid-19 suspects so far, and tested nearly 28,000 of them, a bulletin released by the National Health Mission (NHM) said on Thursday. Out of the 28,000 samples tested, 203 came out positive, it added.
While 101 of the 203 cases reported in Jharkhand by Wednesday evening are in the age bracket of 11 to 30 years, 63 are in the age bracket of 31 to 50 years, the NHM report said. At least nine children, below the age of 10 years, have been infected by the virus in Jharkhand so far, the report added.