7-year-old girl, three women test positive for COVID-19 in HP; tally rises to 72

A seven-year-old girl and three women tested positive for coronavirus in Himachal Pradesh, taking the number of COVID-19 cases in the state to 72, officials said on Thursday.

Two new cases each were reported in Sirmaur and Kangra districts, they said.

A woman from Sheela Chowk in Kangra's Dharamshala tested positive for the dreaded virus at the Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College in Kangra on Thursday evening, Kangra Superintendent of Police Vimukt Ranjan said.

Earlier, a 24-year-old woman, who recently returned to Himachal Pradesh from Mumbai, tested positive for the virus at the same hospital. She had returned to the hill state with her two family members and a Nadaun resident.

On Wednesday night, a 30-year-old woman and her daughter from Sirmaur's Paonta Sahib tested positive for COVID-19, Special Secretary (Health) Nipun Jindal said.

The two had returned from Delhi on May 4.

They were quarantined after they arrived in Paonta Sahib and their samples were taken for testing on May 12, Sirmaur Deputy Commissioner R K Pruthi said, adding that both of them were asymptomatic.

A total of 706 people returned to Sirmaur district from various red zones, Pruthi said.

Out of these 706 people, samples of 541 were taken for tests, he said.

With the four new cases, the COVID-19 tally in the state rose to 72. Three people have lost their lives due to the disease so far.

There are 30 active cases in the state, while 39 people have recovered.

Thirteen active cases are in Kangra, six in Chamba, four in Hamirpur, two each in Sirmaur and Bilaspur, and one each in Mandi, Una and Shimla.