Steepest single-day spike in Himachal
12 Mumbai returnees among 18 test positive
DHARAMSHALA: Eighteen people, including 12 who returned to Kangra and Kullu districts from Mumbai by a special train on May 18, tested positive for coronavirus in Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday, taking the state’s count to 110. It’s a biggest singleday spike in the state. With this, the total number of active cases in the state has gone up to 53, according to special secretary, health, Nipun Jindal.
Himachal has seen a spurt in cases since May 4, with a total of 70 people testing positive.
DHARAMSHALA: Eighteen people, including 12 who returned to Kangra and Kullu districts from Mumbai by a special train on May 18, tested positive for coronavirus in Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday, taking the state’s count to 110.
With this, the total number of active cases in the state has gone up to 53, according to special secretary, health, Nipun Jindal.
Kangra deputy commissioner Rakesh Kumar Prajapati said a 56-year-old woman from Jheol village near Dharamshala town and her son and daughter-in-law, aged 31 and 25 years, tested positive for Covid-19. Another family, comprising a 41-year-old man from Sari Molag in Jaisinghpur sub-division, his 34-year-old wife and 11-year-old daughter, tested positive.
Apart from them, a 43-year-old woman and an eight-year-old girl from Lambagaon in Jaisinghpur subdivision and a 54-year-old man from Bhawarna and a 31-year-old man from Jawalmukhi were found infected.
“All of them arrived in Himachal Pradesh from Mumbai in a special train on May 18 and were under institutional quarantine at Radha Soami Satsang Beas’ Parour complex near Palampur,” Prajapati said.
The patients have been shifted to a dedicated Covid-care centre set up at Panchayati Raj Training Institute (PRTI), Baijnath.
Two more patients tested positive in Kangra late in the evening. One of them is a 41-year-old man from Bajot village of Jaisinghpur sub-division who returned from Chennai on May 18. He was under institutional quarantine at Jwalamukhi. The other patient is a 55-year-old taxi driver from Khera. He had returned from Delhi and was in institutional quarantine at Dhaliara.
FOUR CASES IN MANDI
Four more people from Mandi tested positive for the virus.
Among these, two are women, aged 63 and 70. Besides, two men, aged 23 and 32 have also tested positive. Their travel history is being traced.
FIRST CASE IN KULLU DISTRICT
Kullu district got its first Covid-19 case on Wednesday as a 23-yearold man from Aani sub-division tested positive for coronavirus.
He was among the 10 people from the district who travelled from Mumbai in a special train on May 18. He was under institutional quarantine at the District Ayurvedic Hospital along with others, Kullu deputy commissioner Richa Verma said.
The driver and conductor of the bus, in which the patient travelled from Una to Kullu, have also been quarantined and their samples have been sent for testing. Contact mapping is being done.
MAY SEES A SPIKE
Himachal Pradesh has seen a spurt in Covid-19 cases since May 4, with a total of 70 people testing positive.
Two people have died due to the virus during the period.
Thirty-one cases have been reported over the past one week.
Wednesday’s spurt was also the biggest single-day spike in the state. Earlier, on Monday, 10 people tested positive for the virus.
Till date, the state has 110 Covid-19 cases.
Kangra is the worst hit district with 35 cases followed by Una with 19 cases and Hamirpur with 15 cases.
Thirteen cases have been reported in Chamba district, nine in Solan, seven in Bilaspur, six in Mandi, four in Sirmaur and one
each in Shimla and Kullu.
A total of 50 people have been cured of the virus in the state, including 14 people over the week.
So far, 21,147 people have been tested for Covid-19 in the state, while more than 23,000 are under active surveillance.
On Wednesday, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said,“There has been a spurt in Covid-19 cases in Himachal Pradesh after the government allowed stranded residents to come back home. Those stranded outside the state were facing immense difficulty and were permitted to come back to their home state on humanitarian grounds. Many of them were stuck in places where Covid-19 infection was spreading.”
“All the returnees have been quarantined and those who have tested positive were sent to institutional quarantine centres,” the CM added.“Those willing to come back home should do it now. Later, we will again restrict the entry of outsides,” he said.
KANGRA IS THE WORST
HIT DISTRICT WITH 35 CASES FOLLOWED BY UNA WITH 19 CASES AND HAMIRPUR WITH 15 POSITIVE CASES