Himachal Pradesh reports 2 more COVID-19 deaths, 127 fresh cases

With two more fatalities, the COVID-19 death toll climbed to 22 in Himachal Pradesh on Thursday, while 127 fresh cases pushed the state's infection tally to 4,539.

A 41-year-old man, who died in a Kangra hospital within minutes of being admitted around Wednesday midnight, was found coronavirus positive on Thursday, Chief Medical Officer Gurdarshan Gupta said.

Gupta told PTI that the patient's samples were taken around midnight and the report came positive on Thursday.

The patient was suffering from high fever for the last three or four days, he added.

In Solan, a 51-year-old man with comorbidities succumbed to the virus, a district official said.

With this, the number of deaths due to COVID-19 has risen to 22 in the hill state.

The deaths include that of a 70-year-old Delhi woman, who had stayed at a factory guest house in Solan's Baddi. She died at the PGIMER in Chandigarh on April 2.

The state health department initially showed her death in its records but it stopped doing so later, stating that according to protocols, her death should be included in Chandigarh, where she had tested positive for the disease.

On the contrary, authorities in Chandigarh said the death of the woman should be included in the records of Himachal Pradesh, from where she was referred.

Of the 127 fresh cases, 64 were reported from Solan, 24 from Sirmaur, 19 from Mandi, seven from Hamirpur, six from Una, three each from Kangra and Chamba, and one from Kullu, Special Secretary (Health) Nipun Jindal said.

Meanwhile, 93 patients -- 23 in Sirmaur, 22 in Solan, 21 in Chamba, 11 in Kullu, nine in Kangra, four in Una and three in Hamirpur -- recovered from the infection on Thursday, he said.

With this, the number of patients who have recovered from COVID-19 has risen to 3,085 in Himachal Pradesh, Jindal said, adding that 40 patients have migrated out of the state.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 1,390, the official said.

Solan has the highest number of active cases in the state at 401, followed by Kullu (170), Sirmaur (146), Mandi (145), Kangra (108), Una (98), Chamba (82), Bilaspur (78), Hamirpur (68), Shimla (67), Kinnaur (25) and Lahaul-Spiti (2).