Ranchi: Some healthcare and frontline workers, who had taken both shots of the Covid-19 vaccine, have tested positive for the virus in the city recently even as health experts said inoculation is the best way to fight the deadly virus and to reduce the severity of the infection.
A few workers, who tested positive after taking completing the vaccination cycle, told TOI that several reasons could be behind their infection but the most probable one is their higher exposure to the virus as they deal with infected patients and the mutation of the virus since the outbreak.
A 38-year-old Rims physician, who is now in home isolation, said, “I had taken my second dose of vaccine on March 8 and tested positive on April 4, almost after a month I had completed the inoculation. I have been experiencing high fever and headache for the last four days and will shift to the hospital if the symptoms persist.
Ranchi: Even as state capital Ranchi grapples with a surge in infections, accounting for more than 50% of the total active cases in Jharkhand, the district hospital here has got only one doctor to handle 60 ventilators. Notably, ventilators are operated under the supervision of doctor who have specialisation in anaesthesia.
As per the data provided by the district health authorities, the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (Rims) has 18 ventilators and the central hospital of Central Coalfields Limited has a lone ventilator. The sadar hospital in Ranchi has a total of 60 ventilators, but none of them has been used since the second wave of infections began in the state. Till Monday morning, Ranchi had 3,015 of 5,244 active cases in the state.
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RANCHI: The Birsa Agriculture University (BAU) on Monday postponed its counselling sessions for PG and PhD students, which were to be held both online and offline on April 7, 9 and 12, in the wake of a surge in Covid-19 cases. BAU official Pankaj Vatsal said, “A committee will work out the modalities for completing the counselling process.”
The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by vice-chancellor Onkar Nath Singh and attended by the dean, director and other officials.
Last week, BAU had shut its administrative building till Tuesday for fumigation after three of its staff members tested positive for Covid on Saturday.
Ranchi: The Jharkhand Home Guards Welfare Association (JHWA) on Monday postponed its jail bharo agitation after the state government assured to issue an order for deployment of home guards on regular security duty in all government departments by Tuesday.
Currently, the home guards are paid at the rate of 500 per day for the days they are on duty and they are utilized for only about six months in a year.
Protesting the paltry honorarium above their non-utilization for six months and not providing any retirement benefits, around 15,000 members of JHWA from different parts of the state have been protesting since March 8 in front of the Sai Mandir in Jagannathpur area here. Their demands included an increase in their daily honorarium to Rs 744, regular duty and payment of retirement benefits. They had announced a jail bharo demonstration on Monday. The protesters said they would call off all forms of agitation only after the government issues the order.
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RANCHI: Jharkhand recorded 10 Covid deaths (the highest since October 12) and 1,086 new infections (highest since September 30) on Saturday, taking the statewide toll through the pandemic to 1,140. Assistant director (art, culture and youth affairs) Vijay Paswan was among the casualties on Monday. Among ten deaths reported on Monday, Ranchi accounted for three while two were reported from East Singhbhum and one each from Bokaro, Dhanbad, Lohardaga, Sahebganj and Simdega.
The body count in the five days of April stood at 27, surpassing the 23 deaths recorded in the state in the whole of March. Even the number of cases detected in the first five days of April (4,131) is just 121 short of last month’s tally. With 438 recoveries through the day, the state’s cumulative caseload stood at 1,28,332, of which 1,21,310 have recovered and 5,882 are active cases, the highest since October 24.