Around 0.8 per cent of the over 2.63 crore rural residents surveyed in Jharkhand from May 25 to June 5 were found to have severe acute respiratory iIllness (SARI) or influenza like illness (ILA), data compiled by the state health department revealed on Monday, but only about 0.5 per cent of the over 2 lakh people with the illnesses tested positive for Covid-19 during the 10-day intensive public health survey (IPHS).

As per data shared by the government on Monday, as many as 2,63, 01,472 people from 52,97,433 households were surveyed and only 2,08,556 of them were found to have SARI or ILA symptoms. Of the over 2 lakh people who showed such symptoms, as many as 981 were found to be Covid positive.

The data shared by the health department did not include figures from some pockets of five districts – Bokaro, Dhanbad, Garhwa, Koderma and Lohardaga. The state surveyed around 2.7 crore people during IPHS and data of about 7 lakh more residents was still being compiled, officials said.

The findings of the survey indicated that Covid-19 did not have a major impact on rural areas of the tribal state during the second wave and many villages were completely free from coronavirus infections, officials said. As per government data, Jharkhand’s cumulative Covid positivity rate was 3.87 per cent against the national average of 7.89 per cent, and the survey showed that the positivity rate among the rural residents in Jharkhand was only 0.47 per cent.

“During the survey, we found that many villages were completely free from Covid-19. While there were cases in pockets, the positivity rate was low in terms of the total population surveyed,” said Dr Siddharth Tripathi, the nodal officer for health department’s IEC wing.

Amid growing fear associated with a possible third wave and its impact on children, the proportion of children among those found infected in rural Jharkhand was found to be negligible during the survey. The IPHS findings showed that only 39 of the 981 people found infected by the coronavirus were below the age of 18 years, and none of them required hospitalization. As many as 11 of the 981 people found infected were sent to Covid care centres, and all of them were adults.

As per IPHS data, rural Jharkhand reported as many as 25,869 deaths from April 1 to May 31. While the government did not categorically disclose the causes of the deaths, officials said that the survey did not show a major spike in deaths in the rural areas of the state.

During the survey, it was also found that 16,668 of the surveyed people showed symptoms of tuberculosis, while 1,17,622 suffered from diabetes. As per the survey data, at least 11,9026 rural residents suffered from hypertension.