Seven-yr-old girl among 5 new COVID-19 cases in HP; tally rises to 73

Five more persons, including a seven-year-old girl, confirmed positive for coronavirus in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday, taking the number of cases in the state to 73, officials said.

Besides the minor girl, the fresh cases include three women and a man, they added.

The cases were reported two each from Sirmaur and Kangra districts and one from Bilaspur district, the officials said.

A youth, who had returned from Delhi and quarantined at Bilaspur's Swarghat area on the HP-Punjab border, tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Bilaspur Deputy Commissioner Rajeshwar Goyal said.

A 57-year-old woman from Sheela Chowk in Kangra's Dharamshala tested positive for the dreaded virus at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC) Thursday evening, a district official said.

She had come with three other people from Delhi two days ago, he said.

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

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 on Thursday.

The two had returned from Delhi on May 4, he added.

The woman and her daughter were quarantined after they had returned to Paonta Sahib on May 4 and their samples were taken for testing on May 12, Sirmaur Deputy Commissioner R K Pruthi said, adding both of them were asymptomatic.

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

Of these 706 people, samples of 541 were taken for tests, he added.

With the five new cases, the COVID-19 tally in the state rose to 73. Three people have lost their lives due to the disease.

There are 31 active cases in the state, while 39 people have recovered.

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