E-Paper
Ranchi logs 10% Covid-19 positivity rate
State capital Ranchi reported an alarmingly high Covid-19 positivity rate at nearly 10% on Thursday in comparison to the state’s positivity rate of 2
State capital Ranchi reported an alarmingly high Covid-19 positivity rate at nearly 10% on Thursday in comparison to the state’s positivity rate of 2.41%, according to the state health department’s bulletin.
Positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus out of those undergoing the test.
Besides, the state, after a gap of more than four months, detected over 250 cases in a single day on Thursday, when it reported 278 cases after testing 11,534 samples, registering a positivity rate of 2.41%.
However, Ranchi alone reported 170 cases after testing 1,704 samples taking the district’s positivity rate to 9.97%.
Ranchi has so far reported 34,247 Covid-19 cases, including 33,420 recoveries, 574 active cases and 253 deaths. With an average positivity rate of 6.47%, these cases were discovered after testing a total of 529,194 samples.
Experts say the ripples of the “second wave” was now being felt in the state, especially in Ranchi.
“Districts with high urban population will always have high positivity rate due to overcrowding and high frequency of interstate movement of people. That is why the average positivity rate of Ranchi remained high throughout the pandemic’s year. Same is the case with East Singhbhum with its headquarters in Jamshedpur,” said Dr Dewesh Kumar, assistant professor of department of preventive and social medicine at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi.
He added, “We can say that the ripples of what is happening in Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab and some other states is now being felt in Jharkhand. The rise in number of Covid-19 cases in these states is due to mutant virus but the same is yet to be ascertained in Jharkhand.”
Dr Kumar, however, clarified that the spread of the infection will be high if there was a new variant of virus, but it will not bring about changes in terms of severity.
He said, “The state is going to witness an increasing trend in growth of cases for almost a month from now. It is, therefore, important for everyone to strictly follow all preventive measures.”
According to the health department’s latest weekly report, Jharkhand registered a jump of over 71% in detection of cases in between March 15-21 in comparison to the previous week during March 8-14.
While 369 cases were discovered during March 8-14, 633 new cases were found in between March 15-21.
Considering the steep rise in cases, the department has alerted all districts to ramp up testing and strictly implement preventive protocols. Besides, orders have been passed to spruce up bed facilities in hospitals.
Following the recent state Covid-19 task force committee’s decision, Ranchi district administration has clamped prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure during the upcoming festival of Holi. It has also put a ban on religious processions, political and social rallies and other events involving huge assembly of people.
