17 new coronavirus cases surface in Himachal Pradesh; total count 578

Seventeen more people, including a Sashastra Seema Bal personnel, tested positive for coronavirus in Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday, taking the number of infections in the state to 578, officials said.

So far, seven people have died from the disease in the state. The 44-year-old Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel was posted at the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in New Delhi and had recently returned to Kangra district.

He was the among the eight cases reported from the district. Four cases were detected in Una, three in Chamba and two in Solan. In Kangra, most new patients, including five from two families, recently returned from the Delhi-NCR region, a district official said.

The SSB personnel was institutionally quarantined at Dehra after his arrival from Delhi on June 13. He was shifted to a zonal hospital in Dharamshala on June 15 after he developed fever, he added.

A woman,34, who returned from Gurgaon tested positive for the infection with her two daughters, aged three and seven. She belonged to Bhawarna in the district.

A 55-year-old man and his 46-year-old wife were also found infected with the virus. He had returned from Delhi. Among the Delhi returnees testing positive for the infection was a 23-year-old man from Marhoon in Kangra.

A 30-year-old woman was also detected with the infection, the official said. Meanwhile in Kullu, as many as 26 primary contacts of a 54-year-old cancer patient who tested positive at the PGIMER in Chandigarh--have been quarantined, SP Gaurav Singh said.

Earlier, he remained at the PGIMER for treatment from May 20 to 29. On his return to Kullu, he was home quarantined, he added. Subsequently, he went to the Regional Hospital, Kullu, and Harihar Hospital for treatment. Twenty-six people who came in his contact at Kullu have been quarantined, he added.

He again went to PGIMER for treatment a few days ago and currently admitted there, he added. Meanwhile, four patients—three in Chamba and one in Mandi—recovered from the disease, officials said.

A total of 365 people have recovered from the disease so far while 11 people have migrated out of the state, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said. The number of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 193, Dhiman said.

Kangra district has the highest number of active cases in the state at 55, followed by Una (36), Solan (30), Hamirpur (26), Sirmaur (13), Bilaspur and Chamba (10 each), Shimla (8), Mandi and Kinnaur (two each) and Kullu (1).

(Photo Credit: PTI)