Five new cases of the novel coronavirus were detected at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences here after the results of 178 samples came in on Monday, taking the number of confirmed cases in Jharkhand to 24, of whom two died earlier.
Out of the five new cases, three are from Hindpiri in Ranchi, and one each from Giridih and Bokaro, RIMS director Dr D.K. Singh said.
Health secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni said those who have tested positive “are already in isolation and their contacts have already been identified”.
Ranchi civil surgeon Dr Vijay Bihari Prasad said: “The three who were tested positive from Ranchi today are male. First one is 30 years old, the second is 35 and third one is 40.”
In Bokaro, the two men who tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday night were related to the old man who died of the infection in the district on April 9, deputy commissioner Mukesh Kumar said on Monday.
The two men, one in his 40s and the other in his late 50s, are the nephew and the brother of the 72-year-old old man who died of Covid-19 at the Bokaro General Hospital on April 9.
They all belong to Saram village in Bokaro district.
Besides coming into direct contact with the old man, the duo had also gone to Varanasi recently, Bermo sub-divisional officer (SDO) Prem Ranjan told The Telegraph on Monday.
“The duo went to Varanasi on March 10 and returned on March 20. We are now treating Saram as a hotspot. In fact, after the death of the patient, we took 26 swab samples from Saram of which these two tested positive. Our health workers are sanitising the village. There is fear in the village but we are taking precautions,” he said.
“Doctors and health workers are working tirelessly to ensure everyone recovers,” the SDO said.