Two Army, BSF jawans among 22 new COVID-19 cases in Himachal; tally reaches 917

Twenty-two more people, including an Army and a BSF jawan, tested positive for COVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh on Sunday, taking the tally in the state to 917, officials said.

Eleven of the fresh cases were reported from Kangra, three each from Una and Solan and one each from Bilaspur, Kinnaur, Shimla, Mandi and Sirmaur districts, Additional Chief Secretary, Health, R D Dhiman said.

The new patients in Kangra include an Army and a BSF jawan, Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Prajapati said.

The 39-year-old Army jawan from Rakkar village had returned from Arunachal Pradesh on June 23, Prajapati said, adding that the soldier will be shifted to a military hospital.

The BSF jawan, 54, is a resident of Indri village in Kangra district. He had returned from Jammu on June 18 and is being shifted to a dedicated COVID care centre in Dadh, the officer added.

Six people who tested positive for the virus, including four men and two women, have recently returned from Delhi, the DC added.

The other patients include a seven-year-old boy from Gurial village in Fatehpur town and a 52-year-old man from Machkehar village in Joginder Nagar, an official said. He said both of them had a travel history to other states.

Seventeen patients -- nine from Kangra, five from Solan, two from Bilaspur and one from Chamba -- recovered from the infection on Sunday, the additional chief secretary said.

So far, 518 people have recovered, while 11 have migrated out of the state, he said.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 378 and fatalities at eight.

Hamirpur has the maximum number of active cases in the state at 117, followed by 115 in Kangra, 45 in Solan, 31 in Una, 20 in Shimla, 16 in Bilaspur, 14 in Sirmaur, nine in Chamba, five each in Mandi and Kinnaur and one in Kullu.