10 fresh cases of Covid in Himachal, tally rises to 196

Inching towards the 200 mark, Himachal Pradesh recorded 10 more cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, taking the tally in the state to 196.

Two coronavirus patients from Bilaspur district have recovered from the disease on Sunday, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said. Four of the fresh cases were reported from Una and one each from Bilaspur, Chamba, Mandi, Kangra, Hamirpur and Solan districts.

All the new cases had recently returned from other states including six from Mumbai, Maharashtra, three from Delhi and one from West Bengal.

A woman, her brother-in-law and two sons, who had returned from Mumbai recently, have tested positive for coronavirus. In Mandi, a 19-year-old asymptomatic woman from Dharampur in Sarkaghat tehsil tested positive for Covid-19 and is being shifted to a Covid-19 care centre at Dhangshidar, a district official said.

She too had recently returned from Mumbai with her parents and all of them were in an institutional quarantine centre in Dharampur, he said, adding that the woman's parents tested negative for the virus.

In Chamba, a 30-year-old youth tested positive. He was institutionally quarantined after recently returning from Mumbai and is being shifted to a Covid care centre at Balu, a district official said. In Bilaspur, a man has tested positive days after returning from Delhi on May 21, deputy commissioner Rajeshwar Goel said. A permanent resident of Mandi district, he was institutionally quarantined at Bilaspur's Swarghat on the Himachal Pradesh-Punjab border since his arrival from Delhi, he added.

In Kangra, a man from Palampur's Panchrukhi tested positive for the virus, Superintendent of Police Vimukt Ranjan said, adding that he had returned from Delhi a few days ago and was kept under quarantine at a facility at Baijnath.

Hamirpur Deputy Commissioner Harikesh Meena said that a 20-year-old woman has tested positive for Covid-19. A resident of Baragram in Badsar area, the woman had returned from Delhi along with her relatives on May 18 and was quarantined at government high school, Baragram, he added.

The number of active Covid-19 cases in Himachal Pradesh now stand at 129 and 63 people have recovered so far, according to the officials.

Hamirpur has the maximum number of active cases in the state at 55 followed by 36 in Kangra, 11 in Solan, nine in Mandi, seven in Una, four in Bilaspur, three in Chamba, two in Sirmaur and one each in Kullu and Shimla. Four people have died due to Covid-19 in the state so far.

AIR PASSENGERS COMING TO HP FROM RED ZONE TO BE QUARANTINED

As India is set to resume its domestic passengers flights from Monday after a gap of two months, the Himachal Pradesh government has decided to put people coming from red zones under institutional quarantine.

It is mandatory to quarantine people coming from red zones and those with influenza like illness symptoms, hence the same rule will apply on air passengers, Kangra Deputy Commissioner Rakesh Prajapati said. Paid quarantine facilities are also available in Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) hotels in Kangra district, he added.

The deputy commissioner said air passengers will be tested for coronavirus.

A district official said only Himachal Pradesh residents having valid address proof should book flights coming to Dharamshala's Gaggal airport from Monday.

Tourists will not be allowed to enter the district, he said, adding that they will be immediately put in a quarantine facility and sent back on their own expenses.

People coming to the state on flights will have to obtain an entry pass from district magistrate concerned and show it after deboarding at Gaggal airport, the official said.