43 fresh coronavirus cases in Himachal; total count 717

Shimla, Jun 22 () Forty-three people tested positive for COVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh on Monday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 717, officials said.

The state has reported seven deaths due to the coronavirus.

Of the fresh cases, 16 were reported from Hamirpur, ten from Kangra, nine from Una, three from Shimla, two each from Solan and Bilaspur, and one from Mandi, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said.

In Hamirpur, five cases each were found in Nadaun and Tauni Devi blocks, and three each in Bhoranj and Barsar blocks, Hamirpur Chief Medical Officer Archana Soni said, adding all of them recently returned from other states, mostly from Delhi-NCR.

The fresh cases include six members of two families who returned from Delhi, she said, adding a four-year-old boy from Badsar subdivision was also among the fresh cases.

In Kangra, seven of ten fresh cases were reported from three families, a district official said. Among them were a 58-year-old woman who had recently returned from Mumbai and a 24-year-old man who had returned from Delhi.

In Shimla, a man who returned from Sonepat, his wife and their child tested positive for the virus, a district official said, adding that they were home quarantined.

In Mandi, a Delhi-returned institutionally quarantined 52-year-old man from Sarkaghat tested positive.

Five patients -- two each in Kangra and Una, and one in Mandi-- recovered from the disease on Monday, Dhiman added.

With this, 417 people have recovered while 11 have migrated out of the state.

Dhiman said the number of active cases in the state stood at 237.

Hamirpur and Kangra have the highest number of active coronavirus cases in the state at 70 each, followed by 45 in Solan; 33 in Una; 17 in Shimla; 15 in Sirmaur; 11 in Bilaspur; eight in Chamba; and two each in Mandi, Kullu and Kinnaur. DJI ABH ABH