Six new COVID-19 cases in Himachal, count now 59

Himachal Pradesh reported six fresh cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, taking the count to 59 in the state, officials said on Sunday.

Three persons in Chamba district, two in Bilaspur and one in Kangra district have tested positive for the infection, the officials said.

All three fresh cases in Chamba are the contacts of a driver from Khad Jota panchayat in Chamba's Salooni subdivision, who had tested positive for novel coronavirus on Wednesday, they said.

Bilaspur Deputy Commissioner Rajeswar Goel said two taxi drivers quarantined at Swarghat in Bilaspur district along the Himachal Pradesh-Punjab border tested positive for the infection.

They had recently ferried two families from Ahmedabad in Gujarat and Gurgaon in Haryana to their native places in Himachal Pradesh's Mandi and Kangra districts respectively, he added.

As the two showed symptoms during screening at the border, they were quarantined and their samples were taken, he said, adding one of them is from Gujarat.

They are being shifted to Nerchowk's Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Medical College and Hospital (SLBSGMC) in Mandi, Goel said.

The Bilaspur deputy commissioner said that samples of their contacts will also be taken for testing.

A person from Kangra district tested positive at Tanda's Dr. Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC) in Kangra on Sunday, Kangra SP Vimukt Ranjan said.

Immediate details about the Kangra patient were not available.

The number of active cases in Himachal Pradesh now stands at 17 - six in Chamba, four in Kangra, two in Hamirpur, Bilaspur each and one each in Mandi, Una and Shimla districts.

While 35 patients have recovered from the infection in the state, three have died. Four people were shifted to other states for treatment.