Eight members of family among 73 new COVID-19 cases in HP; tally crosses 2,400-mark

Among the fresh cases, 26 were reported from Solan, 13 from Kangra, nine from Kullu, eight from Shimla, seven from Mandi, five from Sirmaur, three from Kinnaur and two Hamirpur, Special Secretary (Health) Nipun Jindal said. The number of active cases stands at 1,042, he added.

Himachal Pradesh reported 73 new COVID-19 cases, including eight members of a family, on Wednesday, taking the tally to 2,404 in the state. Among the fresh cases, 26 were reported from Solan, 13 from Kangra, nine from Kullu, eight from Shimla, seven from Mandi, five from Sirmaur, three from Kinnaur and two Hamirpur, Special Secretary (Health) Nipun Jindal said.

The number of active cases stands at 1,042, he added. In Shimla, one more person residing in Barnes' Court Stokes Place near Raj Bhawan tested positive for the disease.  Block number 10 in Barnes' Court Stokes Place has been sealed, Benmore municipal councillor Kimi Sood said.

Earlier on Sunday, block number 9 of the same area had been sealed after a woman there tested positive.   Besides, five apple labourers of UP's Azamgarh tested COVID-positive in Rohru subdivision, a district official said. In Kangra, an Army jawan and eight members, including a one-year-old boy, of a family of Nurpur tehsil are among the fresh cases, Superintendent of Police Vimukt Ranjan said.

In Kullu, nine West Bengal residents, who had come to Nirmand for work on July 24, tested positive, Superintendent of Police Gaurav Singh said. In Mandi, seven new cases, including a two-year-old girl in Jogindernagar tehsil, were detected, a district official said.

Meanwhile, Mandi's Sundernagar Sub Divisional Magistrate Rahul Chauhan has declared ward number 4 and parts of wards 3 and 5 of Mahadev gram panchayat as containment zones after two COVID-19 cases were reported from Mahadev village. The virus has so far claimed 13 lives in Himachal Pradesh, while 1,332 people have recovered and 15 have migrated out of the state.

Ninety-eight patients -- 60 in Sirmaur, 28 in Solan, eight in Kangra and two in Bilaspur -- recovered from the infection, Jindal said. Solan has the highest number of active cases in the state at 382, followed by 182 in Sirmaur, 117 in Kangra, 94 in Shimla, 87 in Mandi, 59 in Una, 34 in Bilaspur, 32 in Chamba, 22 in Hamirpur, 17 in Kinnaur and 16 in Kullu, he said.