Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday spoke to Chief Ministers of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and Jharkhand about the COVID-19 situation in their states, reported news agency ANI. He also spoke to Lieutenant Governors of Puducherry and Jammu and Kashmir about the COVID-19 situation in the two union territories, the report added.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren has said that PM Modi did not listen to him during the telephonic conversation. In his tweet in Hindi, Soren has also claimed that PM Modi did not speak anything important.
"The Prime Minister called today. He only delivered his 'Mann ki Baat' during the conversation. It would have been better if he had listened to and spoken on important matters," Soren tweeted in Hindi.
Meanwhile, Jharkhand on Thursday reported 141 fresh COVID-19 fatalities taking the death toll to 3,346, while 5,770 new positive cases pushed the tally to 2,63,115, a health department bulletin said. The state currently has 59,532 active cases, it added.
Altogether 5,804 patients recovered from coronavirus on Thursday, taking the total number of cured people to 2,00,237, the bulletin said.
As per the bulletin, the recovery ratio for Jharkhand is 76.10 per cent as against the national average of 82 per cent.
Of the fresh fatalities, Ranchi district recorded the highest at 41 followed by East Singhbhum at 27 and Dhanbad at 10. The remaining deaths were registered in several other districts.
Besides, the administration has decided to set up institutional quarantine centres with full facilities in all 10 blocks of Dhanbad district for housing migrant workers returning from other states, an official said.
To check further spread of the virus, the Jharkhand government on Wednesday had announced that all migrant workers returning to the state will have to undergo COVID tests on arrival and a mandatory week-long quarantine.
So far, migrant workers were being allowed to go home from railway stations and bus stands after COVID tests and only those found positive were detained. But now, all would be quarantined for a week.
Moreover, Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Thursday digitally inaugurated a 528-bed makeshift COVID-19 hospital at Rajendra Institue of Medical Sciences (RIMS) at Ranchi.
Of the 528 new oxygen beds, 327 were set up at RIMS multi-storey parking lot, 73 at the Oncology department and 128 at the old building of the institute.
Soren said that 108 more beds will be set up with the help of NTPC, the country's largest energy conglomerate.
On Wednesday, the Chief Minister had digitally inaugurated 250 beds at a dedicated COVID health centre at Koderma.
