The number of active cases of Covid-19 infection has dropped below 100 in at least seven of 24 districts in Jharkhand, while two of these seven districts have less than 50 active cases of infection, reveals data compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM).
As per latest data with the NHM, Lohardaga, a largely rural district about 80 kilometers North West of Ranchi, had only 20 active cases of Covid-19 infection on Saturday, the least among all the districts in Jharkhand. Sahibganj in Santhal Pargana had only 49 active Covid-19 cases. Pakur had 60 active cases, while Palamu had 62 active cases of infection and Garhwa had 90 active cases, the NHM figures further highlight.
Backward districts, which are home to mostly poverty-stricken tribal families, have reported fewer active cases of Covid-19 infection than the districts that have a strong urban population, health officials said.
Doctors attribute the rapid fall in the number of active cases in backward districts to lack of pollution and healthy lifestyle of residents. “Villagers do not socialize as much as urban residents. Their immune system is also stronger than the ones living in concrete jungles, so it is not surprising that the number of active cases has dropped below 100 in the districts that are dominated by rural areas,” said Dr. Ajay Singh, state coordinator of Indian Medical Association (IMA).
Most of the districts in Santhal Pargana division had fewer active cases of Covid-19 infection than the districts in other divisions of Jharkhand. Government figures highlight that at least four of the six districts in the Santhal Pargana division had less than 100 active cases of infection. The remaining two districts in the division, Dumka and Jamtara, had 131 and 106 active cases of Covid-19 infection respectively.
There were 65 patients of Covid-19 in Deoghar, a district in Santhal Pargana, on Saturday. Pakur and Sahibganj also fall in the Santhal region of Jharkhand, which is dominated by the Santhali tribes and is yet to see the horizon of development. Godda, another district in the division, had 90 active cases of Covid-19 infection.
As per government records, all the aforementioned districts have reported more than 1000 cases of Covid-19 infection, and registered a recovery rate of more than 90 per cent. However, urban districts like Ranchi and East Singhbhum still had more than 1000 active cases of Covid-19 infection. As per latest figures with the government, as many as 2,457 people were battling the mysterious virus in Ranchi and 1,374 were battling it in East Singhbhum. There were 6,543 active cases across Jharkhand, as per NHM figures updated on Saturday afternoon.
