Commandant, DSP among 81 test +ve in HP

DHARAMSHALA : A commandant and a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) were among the 81 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in Himachal on Monday.

The total tally has risen to 3,452, of which 1,215 cases are active. As many as 31 people tested positive in Solan, 20 in Mandi, nine each in Sirmaur and Hamirpur, four in Kangra, three in Shimla, two cases each in Kullu and Kinnaur and one in Bilaspur.

One person died due to the contagion in Mandi and another on in Shimla, taking the death toll in the state to 15.

Commandant of 4th Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) Virender Singh Thakur was among the nine people who tested positive in Sirmaur. He was staying at a rest house in Paonta Sahib. His staff has been quarantined.

Besides, Paonta Sahib DSP Bir Bahadur Singh has also contracted the virus. The driver of the former Shillai MLA and vicechairman of state civil supply corporation Baldev Tomar also tested positive. Forest minister Rakesh Pathania’s assistant is among the three people who tested positive in Kangra. Pathania has urged people who came in their contact in the last two days to undergo tests for Covid-19.

AMONG 31 CASES IN SOLAN, 16 FROM BBN

Out of the 31 people who tested positive in Solan district, 16 are from the Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh industrial belt. Most of them are workers of industrial units or are their primary contacts. Five people tested positive in Arki, six in Parwanoo, two in Solan town, and one in the Kandaghat area.

Out of the 20 people who tested positive in Mandi district, eight are from Khunagi village of Thunag sub-division. They had all come in contact with a meat seller. Four member sofa family tested positive in Man di. They had returned from Chandigarh. Two cases were reported in Kotli village. Patients have a travel history from Uttar Pradesh and Leh. Two cases were reported in the Sandhol area.

STATE RECORDS TWO DEATHS

Himachal Pradesh on Monday recorded its two causalities due to Covid-19 as a 70-year-old man succumbed to the contagion in Mandi and another in Shimla’s IGMC.

The Mandi deceased was under-treatment at Zonal Hospital Mandi. The patient with co-morbidities was shifted to Nerchowk Medical College late on Sunday where he passed away on Monday morning, said Mandi chief medical officer Dr Devender Sharma.

The man who passed away in Shimla belonged from Nalagarh of Solan and was admitted in the isolation ward of IGMC.

To date, four deaths each have been reported in Mandi and Hamirpur district, three each in Kangra and Shimla, and one in Sirmaur.