Government on Wednesday extended the ongoing lockdown-like restrictions until further notice, but allowed shops in the state to remain open till 8pm on weekdays, a communique from the government stated. However, all establishments will remain closed from 8pm on Saturday to 6am on Monday, while offices will be allowed to function on weekdays with 50 per cent capacity.
In the latest guidelines issued by the state, gatherings of more than 50 people will remain prohibited, but banquet halls may hold ceremonies where less than 50 guests are invited. Religious places will remain closed for devotees and processions will not be allowed in the state. The state also decided to continue with the restriction on interstate bus services, but allowed movement of buses within the state.
Jharkhand has reported a significant fall in Covid cases during the past couple of weeks, and the government attributed the dip to strict restrictions within the state. On Wednesday, as many as 85 cases of Covid-19 surfaced in the state while 120 Covid patients recovered, bringing the active caseload down to 914, a bulletin from the National Health Mission (NHM) highlighted.
At least five districts – Saraikela, Ramgarh, Palamu, Pakur and Dumka – did not report fresh cases of coronavirus infection on Wednesday, while East Singhbhum reported the highest spike of 17 cases. However, East Singhbhum also reported 22 Covid recoveries, which brought the active caseload there down to 103, the NHM stated in its bulletin.
Bokaro reported 10 cases and Ranchi reported eight cases of Covid-19 on the day. The active caseload in Ranchi dropped to 251 on Wednesday as at least nine patients recovered from Covid-19. As many as 48 patients were battling the viral infection in Bokaro by the end of Wednesday.
Jharkhand on Wednesday tested swab samples of 47,995 residents and less than 0.2 per cent of them were found infected. So far, over 3.45 lakh people have been infected by coronavirus in the state and 98.25 per cent of them have recovered, highlights government data.
The growth rate of Covid cases on Wednesday dropped to 0.02 per cent in Jharkhand against the national average of 0.11 per cent, while the doubling rate in the state rose to 2878.86 days against the national doubling rate of 639.68 days, NHM stated in its bulletin.
The Covid-19 vaccination numbers dropped significantly in the state on Wednesday owing to a crisis of vaccines. As per government data, the state administered the first dose of the vaccine to only 13,775 residents and the second dose to 4150 residents. In the past one week, the state vaccinated at least 1 lakh residents every day on an average.