ITBP jawan, 16 others test positive for COVID in Himachal, tally now 1,064

(Eds: Updating figure)

Shimla, Jul 5 () Seventeen more people including an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) jawan tested positive for COVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday, pushing the state's tally of infected cases to 1,064.

Seven of the fresh cases were reported from Una, five from Kangra, two each from Solan and Kullu and one from Mandi district, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said.

In Kullu, two of the fresh cases included a 33-year-old Chandigarh-returned ITBP jawan and a 34-year-old Bhutnar woman, who returned from Rajasthan, Superintendent of Police Gaurav Singh said.

The SP said the ITBP jawan had returned from Chandigarh on June 24 and was quarantined.

With this, 30 ITBP jawans, 23 in Kinnaur, six in Shimla and one in Kullu district, have tested positive for the disease in the state this month so far.

All these ITBP jawans were asked to return to their battalions as their leaves had been cancelled after the violent physical clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in Galwan Valley in Ladakh on June 15.

In Kangra, three of the five new patients are women while two are men, Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Prajapati said.

The three of five new patients had recently returned from Mumbai, Delhi and Ludhiana respectively, while two had come in contacts of a COVID-19 patient, he added.

A 61-year-old Mumbai-returned man from Rajot village in Baijnath tehsil, a 46-year-old Delhi-returned woman from Spail village in Jawali tehsil and a 25-year-old Ludhiana-returned woman from Bilaspur village in Dehra tehsil tested positive for COVID-19, he added.

The DC said a 52-year-old man and his 25-year-old daughter from Kehrian village in Jawali tehsil also tested positive. They had come in contact of a COVID-19 patient, he added.

In Mandi, a 34-year-old man from Kharoh village in Sarkaghat tehsil, who had returned from West Bengal, tested positive for the novel coronavirus, a district official said.

He was asymptomatic and kept in home-quarantine, he added.

Twenty-eight more patients -- eight each from Hamirpur and Solan, seven from Kangra, three from Bilaspur and one each from Mandi and Una -- recovered from the infection, ACS R D Dhiman said.

A total of 10 people have died of the viral infection so far in the state.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 315. As many as 724 people have recovered from the infection so far, while 13 have migrated out of the state, Dhiman said.

At 84, Kangra has the highest number of active cases in the state, followed by 76 in Hamirpur, 38 in Solan, 31 in Kinnaur, 30 in Una, 15 in Bilaspur, 12 in Shimla, nine in Mandi, seven each in Sirmaur and Chamba, four in Lahaul-Spiti and two in Kullu. DJI CORR RAX RAX