Five ITBP personnel among 26 test +ve in HP, tally rises to 979
DHARAMSHALA: Five Indo-Tibet Border Police (ITBP) jawans in Kinnaur were among 26 fresh Covid-19 cases recorded in Himachal Pradesh, taking the total number of cases in the state to 979.
Kinnaur chief medical officer Dr Sonam Negi said the five jawans came to Reckong Peo from Jammu. He said a total of 173 samples, including 164 of ITBP jawans, three of Himachal Pradesh Police and five of Border Roads Organisation (BRO) labourers were sent for testing on June 30 of which five have come out positive.
TWO ARMY JAWANS TEST POSITIVE IN KANGRA
Six people, including two army jawans, tested positive in Kangra. The soldiers aged 33 and 21 were deployed at the Army Headquarters in Delhi. One of them had returned on June 22 and other on June 26. Other patients include three men and a woman.
Two cases were reported in Bilaspur. Among the patient is a 17-year-old youth who returned from Bengaluru while the other 23-year-old returned from Delhi. Both were under institutional quarantine.
One person tested positive in Sirmaur. The man had returned from Delhi with his family on June 16. He initially tested negative twice but his sample sent for testing on June 29 came out positive, said Rajpur block medical officer Ajay Deol.
A 24-year-old student, who returned from Tamil Nadu, has tested positive in Shimla district.
He has been shifted to Covid-care centre Mashobra.
341 ACTIVE CASES
Active cases in the state now stand at 341 as 42 more patients have recovered. The total number of people cured is 617. The recovery rate is above 63%. Eleven people have migrated to other states and seven have succumbed to the infection.
DON’T START TOURIST ACTIVITIES TILL OCT: HIMACHAL HOTELIERS
SHIMLA: Himachal hoteliers have urged the state government to not start tourist activities till October despite it issuing standard operating procedures (SOPs) regarding the same last month.
All Himachal Association of Hospitality and Tourism spokesperson Ashwani Bamba said, “Hotels have been closed for the three months and no revenue has been earned. While we are concerned about the survival of our industry, loss of revenue, our staff and families, we cannot put the lives of our society at risk.”
“At present, there is no vaccine available to cure the infection. The people are afraid and will not prefer to venture out of their homes and stay in hotels,” he said.
In a letter to chief minister Jai Ram Thakur and the tourism secretary, Himachal’s hoteliers have said that tourist activities should not be permitted for the next few months as Covid-19 cases are increasing at an alarming rate in India and the world at large. As per expert opinion, the pandemic will be at its peak in the months of July and August, the hoteliers stated in the letter.