Three more positive COVID-19 cases in HP, count rises to 46

Three more persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases to 46 in the state, officials said.

While two persons tested positive in Chamba district, one tested positive in Kangra district, they added.

Chamba Deputy Commissioner Vivek Bhatia told PTI that two persons were tested positive for novel coronavirus on Wednesday.

The patients are from Khad Jota panchayat in Salooni subdivision and they recently came from Baddi in Solan district, he added.

Their contacts are being traced and they will be quarantined as per protocol, the DC added.

Earlier, one person tested positive from Kangra district.

The patient is a resident of Jamanabad in Kangra district, Superintendent of Police Vimukt Ranjan said.

Kangra Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Prajapati said the man was quarantined at Panchayati Raj Training Institute (PRTI) in Baijnath after he had been tested positive at Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC) in Tanda.

The man returned from Dubai last month and subsequently came to his house in a taxi with three other persons on April 27. The taxi driver has also been identified.

The DC said the quarantined man's 24 contacts were identified. They have been quarantined and their samples have also been taken for testing, Prajapati added.

Meanwhile, one more person who had been staying at Gagret in Una district tested positive in neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir.

A resident of Jammu, the man had returned to the Union territory a few days ago and was tested positive at Lakhanpur, Una Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kumar said.

The district administration received information from Lakhanpur that the man had been tested positive for coronavirus, the DC said. His contacts in Una district have been quarantined, he added.

"Of the 600 samples sent for testing on Wednesday, 212 tested negative whereas the three from Kangra tested positive for the infection while reports of the rest are awaited, a senior health official said.

Of the total 46 patients in the state, 34 have recovered while three persons have died.

The fatalities include a 70-year-old Delhi resident who had stayed at a guest house of a factory in Solan's Baddi and died at PGIMER, Chandigarh, on April 2.

Four people were shifted to other states for treatment.

HP now has five active cases with two in Chamba and one each in Sirmaur, Kangra and Mandi districts.

Una has the highest number of recovered patients at 16, followed by Chamba with six, Solan with five, Kangra with four, Hamirpur with two and Sirmaur with one, the officials said.