78 fresh cases recorded in state, tally reaches 3,134

Ranchi: A day after a cabinet minister and a JMM MLA tested positive for Covid-19 forcing chief minister Hemant Soren into home quarantine, Jharkhand on Wednesday recorded 78 fresh cases from 14 districts and the infected persons included frontline health workers, policemen and migrants.
In a tweet, state health minister Banna Gupta said, "The chief minister has opted for self-quarantine and following his footsteps, several senior officials have done the same.This is the time to fight the pandemic and I urge one and all to wear masks, follow social-distancing norms and avoid crowded places."
Earlier on Wednesday, the minister was shifted to Rims while the MLA was moved to the BSL Central Hospital in Bokaro.
Of the fresh cases, three are personnel from the Hindpiri police station. The state's cumulative number of cases now is 3,134 of which 942 are active and 2,170 have recovered. A total of 22 people have also died from the infection.
Among the fresh cases, Dhanbad, Koderma and Sahibganj reported double-digit figures. While Dhanbad reported 23 cases, Koderma and Sahibganj detected 17 and 10 cases.
A Dhanbad district official said, "A radiologist and a dentist along with four girls who used to work for an NGO in Chennai are among the new cases. The girls have been in institutional quarantine since their arrival on July 4."
The district administration also heaved a sigh of relief when samples of Dhanbad DC Amit Kumar, SP (city) R Ramkumar and Jharia MLA Purnima Singh returned negative. "The senior district administration officials and the Jharia MLA had given their samples soon after the JMM legislator tested positive on Tuesday," the official added.
The PMCH and Dhanbad Sadar hospital witnessed a long queue of people to get themselves tested and collected around 400 samples after the district administration appealed to people who have interacted with the MLA to voluntarily turn up for testing.
Meanwhile, East Singhbhum and Ranchi detected six cases each while Saraikela, Simdega and Dumka reported three cases each. Pakur reported two new cases whereas Chatra, Deoghar, Garhwa, Gumla and Khunti reported one case each.