HP: Hamirpur's diarrhoea cases hit 286 with 34 new cases in 24 hours

Thirty-four new diarrhoea cases were reported from 10 villages of Himachal Pradesh's Hamirpur in a span of 24 hours, taking the total number of patients in the district to 286, an official said on Friday.

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr R K Agnihotri said the 34 cases were detected till Thursday night.

Of the total 286 cases, 14 patients are in hospital while 193 have been discharged. The remaining patients are getting treated at home, he told PTI.

Twelve villages of Gram Panchayats Lamblu, Chamned, Gasota, Bafrin and Pandher in Hamirpur district have been reporting diarrhoea cases since last Friday. The area has a population of around 4,550.

A team of the health department visited the affected villages and advised people to take proper care, he added.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has sought details about the outbreak of the disease in the affected villages of the district. He also directed the health department to ensure that there was no shortage of medicines and other facilities.

Sukhu has directed the Jal Shakti Vibhag to chlorinate all the water sources properly and ensure that neat and clean water is made available to the people of the district to avoid the further spread of the disease.

A similar outbreak affected more than 400 people in Hamirpur in March. It took the administration around 10 days to bring the situation under control.

In January 2023, about 1,000 people had contracted diarrhoea in the Rangas area of Nadaun, the assembly constituency of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. It resurfaced in June, affecting 10 panchayats adjoining Hamirpur town.