Himachal reports 81 new COVID-19 cases, tally climbs to 2,036

Himachal Pradesh reported 81 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, pushing the state's tally to 2,036.

Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said 34 fresh cases were reported from Solan, 15 each from Sirmaur and Mandi, seven from Chamba, six from Una, three from Kangra and one from Shimla.

In Sirmaur, 11 males between the age group of 11 to 68 years and four males in the age group of 14 to 65 years tested positive for COVID-19 from Gobindnagar mohalla in Nahan town, Deputy Commissioner R K Pruthi said.

In Mandi, six fresh cases were reported from Pandoh, three from Sundernagar and one each from Nachan, Balh, Dudar, Janjehli, Mandi town and Drang, a district official said.

In Kangra, three men, including an Army jawan, tested positive for novel coronavirus, Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Prajapati said.

A 21-year-old Army jawan of Saperu village in Palampur tehsil returned from Leh on July 18 and was home quarantined, Prajapati said, adding that he was being shifted to A military hospital Palampur.

Besides two men, one of them recently returned from Punjab's Mohali and the other from Bihar's Begusarai are being shifted to a dedicated COVID care centre in Baijnath, he added.

The deadly virus has claimed 12 lives in Himachal Pradesh so far, while 1,167 people have recovered and 15 have migrated out of the state.

Twenty-two more patients, 21 in Solan and one in Kullu, recovered from the infection in the past 24 hours, Dhiman said.

The number of active cases now stands at 840.  Solan has the highest number of active cases in the state at 324, followed by 169 in Sirmaur, 78 in Kangra, 67 in Shimla, 50 in Una, 60 in Mandi, 27 in Chamba, 17 each in Bilaspur and Kinnaur, 16 in Kullu and 15 in Hamirpur.