Two women die of virus in Himachal as infection count rises to 224

Two elderly women died of COVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh as the number of people testing positive for the infection rose to 224 with 20 fresh cases on Monday.

A seven-month-boy and her 28-year-old mother are among the 20 new cases, officials said.

So far, six people have succumbed to COVID-19 in the state.

According to officials, while a 65-year-old woman from Mandi's Ratti village died at Nerchowk's Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Hospital (SLBSGH) on Monday, a 72-year-old woman from Hamirpur died at Shimla's Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) on Sunday night.

They said both women were suffering from other ailments too.

The Mandi woman had suffered renal failure and was undergoing dialysis, Chief Medical Officer Jeevanand Chauhan said.

The CMO said she tested positive for the infection on May 20 but it could not be traced from where she contracted the virus.

IGMC's Senior Medical Superintendent Janak Raj said the Hamirpur woman was referred to their hospital after her condition worsened.

Her husband too had tested positive for the virus on Thursday, he said, adding the woman had gone to Jalandhar in Punjab for the treatment of other ailments.

Upon her return, she was admitted to the Government Medical College in Hamirpur.

All 20 fresh patients had returned from other states recently.

Ten of them returned from Maharashtra, four from Tamil Nadu, three from Delhi and two from Gujarat's Ahmedabad recently.

Eight of them had returned to Kangra, four to Chamba, four to Shimla, three to Bilaspur and one to Hamirpur.

In Kangra, a seven-month-old boy and her 28-year-old mother are among the eight people tested positive on Monday, a district official said.

The woman had returned from Delhi on May 19 in a taxi and quarantined at her mother's place in Kuther village of Jawali tehsil.

They are being shifted to the Dadh COVID care centre.

Besides, four men who returned from Maharashtra and two from Ahmedabad, tested positive for the infection in Kangra.

In Bilaspur, two Mumbai and one Delhi returnees tested positive for COVID-19.

The four Chamba men, aged between 21-32, had returned from Tamil Nadu recently, a district official said.

Two of them had returned on May 18 in a special train from Chennai.

Three men in Shimla's Chopal Tehsil had returned from Mumbai in a special train on May 18, Deputy Commissioner Amit Kashyap said, adding that they were institutionally quarantined at Deha.

The fourth man from Kotkhai also returned from outside and was institutionally quarantined, Shimla SP Omapati Jamwal said.

In Hamirpur, a 25-year-old woman tested COVID-19 positive for the virus, Deputy Commissioner Harikesh Meena said.

She had returned to her in-laws' house from Mumbai on May 22, he said, adding that her 29-year-old husband too had tested COVID-19 positive a few days ago.

Of the total 224 cases reported so far, 67 have recovered, leaving only 151 patients behind, according to officials.

Hamirpur has the highest number of active cases in the state at 56 followed by 42 in Kangra, 13 in Una, 11 in Solan, eight in Mandi, seven each in Chamba and Bilaspur, four in Shimla, two in Sirmaur and one in Kullu, they said.