Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon tests positive for Covid

Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon was among the 252 people found to be Covid positive in Jharkhand on Tuesday. Oraon, the sixth minister in the Hemant Soren cabinet to get infected by the lethal virus, was admitted to Bhagwan Mahavir Medica Superspecialty Hospital in Ranchi as a precautionary measure, leaders from the Congress party said.

Oraon had met several bureaucrats, party workers and even chief minister Hemant Soren recently, putting all of them under Covid scanner. Besides, he was actively involved in the preparations for the twin assembly bypolls in Bermo and Dumka.

Until Tuesday, at least five ministers in the Jharkhand Cabinet had tested positive for Covid-19. One of them, Minority Welfare Minister Haji Hussain Ansari died of a cardiac arrest. Health Minister Banna Gupta, Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Mithilesh Thakur and Agriculture Minister Badal Patralekh also tested positive for Covid-19 earlier and recovered without complaining of any symptoms. However, Covid-infected Education Minister Jagarnath Mahto had to undergo a lung transplant surgery in Chennai.

Meanwhile, five more people died of Covid-19 infection in Jharkhand on Tuesday, taking the toll up at 910, a bulletin released by the National Health Mission (NHM) stated. The casualties occurred in Ranchi, East Singhbhum, Deoghar, Bokaro, Chatra and Giridih. Each of these districts reported one death each. The Covid-19 recovery rate, however, improved on the day as at least 456 patients overcame the virus in 24 hours, government data stated. The total number of Covid recoveries in the state inched towards 1 lakh on the day. As per government data, of the 1,04,940 people infected by the virus so far, 99988 have recovered, taking the recovery rate up at 95.28 per cent.