1 year of first Covid-19 case: State unearths over 10k cases every month
Jharkhand, which completed one year of detection of its first Covid-19 case on Tuesday, has on an average unearthed of over 10,000 cases every month
Jharkhand, which completed one year of detection of its first Covid-19 case on Tuesday, has on an average unearthed of over 10,000 cases every month.
The state discovered its first case of coronavirus infection on March 31 last year, when a Malaysian woman tested positive.
The state has so far reported a total of 123,090 cases, with an average detection of 10,257 cases per month. It faced its most turbulent phase last year between August 25-September 24 with the discovery of 45,330 cases, accounting for nearly 37% of the total cases.
However, even after one year has lapsed since the discovery of the first positive case in the state, the number of active cases still remain significant in Jharkhand that was now facing an apparent second wave of the pandemic like many other states such as Maharashtra and Kerala.
This has prompted strict measures from the Centre and the state government to control the virus and speed up vaccination drive.
The number of active cases witnessed a hike in March this year that were otherwise brought under control from November 2020.
In the week gone by, the state recorded more than 300 cases in merely three days on Thursday, Friday and Saturday for the first time since November 15, 2020.
According to health experts, the spike in cases was due to people not following Covid-19 prevention protocols.
“Coronavirus infection is like swine flue, which recurs every year during its season. So, it will keep coming every year. We faced the coronavirus outbreak in March last year and lockdown was imposed to contain its spread. We expect more cases in the next fortnight, as the festival of Holi just ended. The only way out is to vaccinate the maximum number of citizens. In Israel, over 90% population has been vaccinated, resulting in drastic cut down in caseload there,” said Dr Pradeep Bhattacharya, in-charge of Covid-19 unit at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi.
“We are now witnessing a greater spread of the disease among people aged between 35-50. People in this age group spend their maximum time outdoors because of job compulsion. We have at present eight to nine patients of this group admitted in Covid-19 ICU. This is happening because grip over caution has loosened. People are taking the infection lightly. Maintaining social distancing, wearing mask and sanitizing hands are key to safeguard ourselves.”
The state has so far inoculated 1.39 million citizens with the first dose of Covid-19 vaccine. This includes 418,702 health care workers (HCW) and frontline workers (FLW), 783,794 senior citizens and 194,770 people aged between 45-59 years and having comorbidities. Out of 418,702 HCWs and FLWs, 233,763 have taken their second dose also.
Since the beginning of the first phase of nationwide mass vaccination drive on January 16 till February 26, the state vaccinated as many as 304,194 beneficiaries that comprise only HCWs and FLWs.
The second phase of vaccination that was launched across the country on March 1 targeted citizens aged 60 years and above and those aged 45 years and above with comorbidities, besides HCWs and FLWs.
As per a rough estimate, Jharkhand has to inoculate 35 lakh people in this phase.