4 fresh cases of coronavirus reported in Himachal Pradesh; tally rises to 208

Four more people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Himachal Pradesh, taking the number of cases in the state to 208, while a 72-year-old woman died due to the disease at a hospital here, officials said on Monday.

With the latest fatality, the death toll due to COVID-19 has increased to five in the state.

The woman had tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Saturday and she died at the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) in Shimla around 10:15 pm on Sunday, the hospital's senior medical superintendent, Janak Raj, said.

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The woman, who was suffering from multiple ailments, had been referred to the IGMC from Hamirpur, he said.

She tested COVID-19 positive on Saturday two days after her husband was found infected by the novel coronavirus, a Hamirpur district official said.

The woman had gone to Jalandhar in Punjab for treatment for her ailments. On her return from there, she was admitted to the government medical college in Hamirpur, he said.

She was referred to the IGMC after her condition worsened. Her sample was taken there and her report came positive on Saturday, the official said.

Prior to this, a 52-year-old patient from Hamirpur district died from COVID-19 at the Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Government Hospital in Mandi on May 15, while on May 5, a 21-year-old man from Sarkaghat in Mandi died due to the disease in Shimla.

On April 2, a 70-year-old woman, who was a resident of Delhi and had been staying at a factory's guest house in Solan since March 15, died due to COVID-19 at the PGIMER in Chandigarh.

On March 23, a 69-year-old man who had returned from the US died of COVID-19 at the Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC) in Kangra district.

Of the fresh COVID-19 cases in the state, three people are from Shimla district, Raj said, adding that their samples were sent for testing from the district's Matiana area.

They had returned from Mumbai on May 18, the officials said.

The fourth case was reported from Hamirpur, where a 25-year-old woman tested COVID-19 positive, Deputy Commissioner Harikesh Meena said.

She had returned to her in-laws house from Mumbai on May 22, he said.

Her 29-year-old husband tested COVID-19 positive a few days ago and was admitted to a COVID care centre in Hamirpur district for treatment, Meena said.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in Himachal Pradesh is 140 and 63 people have recovered so far, according to the officials.

Hamirpur has the highest number of active cases in the state at 57 followed by 37 in Kangra, 13 in Una, 11 in Solan, nine in Mandi, four in Bilaspur, three each in Shimla and Chamba, two in Sirmaur and one in Kullu, they said.