Himachal sees five-fold increase in Covid infections; 82 cases in 2 days

Himachal Pradesh has witnessed a spike in coronavirus infection with the state reporting a five-fold increase in cases in June compared to May and 82 fresh cases in the first two days of July.

The positivity rate has shot up from 0.8 in May to 6.6 in July, an official said and dubbed the development "worrying".

Dr Gurdarshan Gupta, chief medical officer, Kangra, issued an alert in the district on Sunday regarding the spurt in COVID-19 cases.

"At present, a huge increase in new cases of Covid has been reported in Kangra. In April, 93 cases were registered and in May, the figure was 86, which suddenly jumped to 426 in June. In just two days of July, we had 82 fresh cases. Similarly the positivity rate, too, jumped from 0.8 in May to 6.6 in the start of July. These figures are worrying."

Dr Gupta requested the people to follow Covid appropriate behaviour, isolate immediately in case of fever or related symptoms and get themselves tested in order to prevent further spread of the infection.

"Your cooperation can save us from future danger," he said and appealed to the people to complete their vaccination.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, Kangra has reported 64,388 cases, of which 62,895 patients recovered and 1,248 died. There are 238 active cases.

Sixty nine people died due to COVID-19 this year, including two last month.