Only 12 active Covid-19 cases in Ranchi now

With five more Covid-19 patients recovering in Ranchi, the district is left with only 12 active cases of the viral infection, Deputy Commissioner Rai Mahimapat Ray said on Sunday.

Ranchi was declared a Covid-19 red zone last month by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in the wake of the rapidly rising count of infected people here. With Ranchi losing the red zone tag, Jharkhand now has 21 orange zones and three green zones, said health officials. The district will become a Covid-19 green zone if no fresh cases of the viral infection are reported in the next 21 days, they added. Ranchi was the only Covid-19 red zone in Jharkhand so far.

At least nine Covid-19 patients recovered in Ranchi in the past 48 hours, said Rai. Ranchi has shown the fastest recovery rate of patients in Jharkhand despite having to face an unprecedented surge in cases last month and being home to Hindpiri – the only large containment zone in the State.

The doubling rate of Covid-19 infection has also gone up in Ranchi from 3.5 a few days ago to 57.92, said the Deputy Commissioner. Doubling rate, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), is the time taken for the the number of cases to double. This means that earlier the number of Covid-19 cases doubled here in 3.5 days, and now the count doubles in 57.92 days, officials said.

The Covid-19 testing rate in Ranchi is also higher than rest of the country, said Ray. The rate of testing in India is 205 per 1 lakh population, whereas in Ranchi it is 285 per 1 lakh population, he said. More than 10,000 Covid-19 tests have been conducted in Ranchi so far, and the case positivity rate here is 1.8 per cent, added Ray.

A team led by the State Transport Secretary, K Ravikumar, Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Rai Mahimpat Ray, Ranchi SDM Lokesh Mishra visited the airport to inspect the ongoing preparation work.

Deputation of the magistrate has also been done at Birsa Munda Airport, Ranchi as a precaution for maintaining law and order due to infection of coronavirus. Cooperative Extension Officer and Junior Engineer MNREGA Lapung have been deputed as magistrates. Along with the magistrate at the airport, police forces have also been deputed.