10 new cases of COVID-19 in Himachal, tally rises to 196

Himachal Pradesh has recorded 10 more cases of COVID-19, taking the tally in the state to 196, officials said on Sunday.

Two coronavirus patients from Bilaspur district have recovered from the disease on Sunday, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said.

Four of the fresh cases were reported from Una and one each from Bilaspur, Chamba, Mandi, Kangra, Hamirpur and Solan districts, they said.

All the new cases had recently returned from other states including six from Mumbai, Maharashtra, three from Delhi and one from West Bengal, they added.

Una Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kumar told PTI that a woman, her brother-in-law and two sons, who had returned from Mumbai recently, have tested positive for coronavirus.

In Mandi, a 19-year-old asymptomatic woman from Dharampur in Sarkaghat tehsil tested positive for COVID-19 and is being shifted to a COVID-19 care centre at Dhangshidar, a district official said.

She too had recently returned from Mumbai with her parents and all of them were in an institutional quarantine centre in Dharampur, he said, adding that the woman's parents tested negative for the virus.

In Chamba, a 30-year-old youth tested positive. He was institutionally quarantined after recently returning from Mumbai and is being shifted to a COVID care centre at Balu, a district official said.

In Bilaspur, a man has tested positive days after returning from Delhi on May 21, deputy commissioner Rajeshwar Goel said.

A permanent resident of Mandi district, he was institutionally quarantined at Bilaspur's Swarghat on the Himachal Pradesh-Punjab border since his arrival from Delhi, he added.

In Kangra, a man from Palampur's Panchrukhi tested positive for the virus, Superintendent of Police Vimukt Ranjan said, adding that he had returned from Delhi a few days ago and was kept under quarantine at a facility at Baijnath.

Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner Harikesh Meena said that a 20-year-old woman has tested positive for COVID-19.

A resident of Baragram in Badsar area, the woman had returned from Delhi along with her relatives on May 18 and was quarantined at government high school, Baragram, he added.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Himachal Pradesh now stand at 129 and 63 people have recovered so far, according to the officials.

Hamirpur has the maximum number of active cases in the state at 55 followed by 36 in Kangra, 11 in Solan, nine in Mandi, seven in Una, four in Bilaspur, three in Chamba, two in Sirmaur and one each in Kullu and Shimla, they said.

Four people have died due to COVID-19 in the state so far.