Shimla, Jun 22 () Fifty-four people tested positive for COVID-19 in Himachal Pradesh on Monday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 728.
The state has reported seven deaths due to the coronavirus.
Of the fresh cases, 16 were reported from Hamirpur, 13 from Una, ten from Kangra, five from Bilaspur, four from Solan, three from Shimla, two from Sirmaur and one from Mandi, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman said.
In Hamirpur, five cases each were found in Nadaun and Tauni Devi blocks, and three each in Bhoranj and Barsar blocks, Hamirpur Chief Medical Officer Archana Soni said, adding all of them recently returned from other states, mostly from Delhi-NCR.
The fresh cases include six members of two families who returned from Delhi, she said, adding a four-year-old boy from Badsar subdivision was also among the fresh cases.
In Kangra, seven of ten fresh cases were reported from three families, a district official said. Among them were a 58-year-old woman who had recently returned from Mumbai and a 24-year-old man who had returned from Delhi.
In Shimla, a man who returned from Sonepat, his wife and their child tested positive for the virus, a district official said, adding that they were home quarantined.
In Mandi, a Delhi-returned institutionally quarantined 52-year-old man from Sarkaghat tested positive.
Twelve patients -- seven in Sirmaur, two each in Kangra and Una, and one in Mandi-- recovered from the disease on Monday, Dhiman added.
With this, 429 people have recovered while 11 have migrated out of the state.
Dhiman said the number of active cases in the state stood at 279.
Hamirpur and Kangra have the highest number of active coronavirus cases in the state at 70 each, followed by 47 in Solan; 37 in Una; 17 in Shimla; 14 in Bilaspur; 10 in Sirmaur; eight in Chamba; and two each in Mandi, Kullu and Kinnaur. DJI ABH ABH