Himachal reports 103 new Covid-19 cases, 2 deaths; active tally at 1,719

Himachal Pradesh reported 103 fresh Covid-19 cases and two deaths in the last 24 hours, the Department of Health and Family Welfare said on Saturday.

"One death each has been reported from Kangra and Una districts," the press release said.

A total of 99 COVID patients recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours.

"The total number of active cases in the state stands at 1,719 while the death toll in the state stands at 4,216," it mentioned.

A total of 1537 persons were tested for Covid 19 in the past 24 hours, officials informed.

Meanwhile, the country reported 12,193 new cases in the last 24 hours. With 10,765 recoveries in the last 24 hours, the total recoveries reached 4,42,83,021.

On April 21, a total of 11,692 fresh covid-19 infections were recorded in the last 24 hours in the country, marking a dip from Thursday's tally of 12,591 cases, the Union health ministry said on Friday.

India recorded 12,591 on April 20, 10,542 on April 19, 7,633 on April 18, 9,111 on April 17, 10,093 on April 16, and 10,753 on April 15.

In wake of the spike in the number of COVID-19 cases across the country, Dr PK Mishra, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister chaired a high-level meeting on Wednesday to assess the situation.

The PMO informed in a statement that the focus of the meeting was on the status of preparedness of health infrastructure and logistics, drugs, vaccination campaign in the country and the key necessary steps as a response to the recent surge in Covid cases.

"Dr PK Mishra stressed that the time tested 5-fold strategy of Test-Track-Treat-Vaccination and adherence COVID Appropriate Behaviour must continue to be implemented and equally crucial to promote awareness within the community regarding COVID appropriate behaviour and caution citizens against complacency," the PMO statement read.

During the meeting, a comprehensive presentation was made by Rajesh Bhushan, the Secretary of Health and Family Welfare providing an overview of the global COVID-19 situation.