HP records 48 new COVID cases, tally rises to 776

 As many as 48 more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh, taking the state's tally to 776, officials said on Tuesday.

Of these, 23 cases were reported from Hamirpur, 17 from Kangra, three each from Shimla and Una, and two from Chamba, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said.

The number of active cases in the state now stands at 324, he said.

So far, 432 people have recovered, while 11 have migrated out of the state. Himachal Pradesh has reported seven deaths due to COVID-19.

In Hamirpur, most of the fresh cases have a travel history to Delhi-NCR, District's Chief Medical Officer Archna Soni said.

A 72-year-old man and his 36-year-old son quarantined at Kanjyan, a 44-year-old woman and her 14-year-old daughter, a 57-year-old man and his 50-year-old wife in home quarantine in Kulehra village, a 51-year-old man and his 22-year-old son, and a 41-year-old man and his 39-year-old wife have tested positive, she said.

Similarly, a 29-year-old Bahrain-returned man, a 26-year-old man quarantined at Doongri, a 31-year-old man in home quarantine, a 15-year-old girl, a 21-year-old man, a 29-year-old man, a 31-year-old man, a 30-year-old man who returned from Ahmednagar Army base and a 33-year-old man have also tested positive, Son added.

Besides, two women ,aged 14 and 38, from Nadaun block and two men, aged 43 and 55, from Badsar and Sujanpur blocks also tested positive, she said.

The total number of positive cases in Hamirpur now stands at 205, while 111 of them recovered, one had succumbed to the virus, Soni said.

In Kangra, too, most of the fresh cases include people who recently returned from Delhi, a district official said.

In Shimla, three of a family in Sunni tested positive, a district official said, adding that they had returned from Gurugram recently.

Three patients -- two in Kinnaur and one in Kullu -- also recovered from the disease on Tuesday, Dhiman added.

In Kullu, an eight-month-old girl recovered from novel coronavirus on Tuesday, Kullu superintendent of police Gaurav Singh said.

Hamirpur has the maximum number of active COVID-19 cases in the state at 93, followed by 87 in Kangra, 47 in Solan, 40 in Una, 20 in Shimla, 14 in Bilaspur, 10 each in Chamba and Sirmaur, two in Mandi, and one in Kullu.