Nine of 12 districts in Himachal have positivity rate above 10%

Industrial district of Solan has highest positivity rate of 16.92% followed by state capital Shimla at 14.42%

Nine of the 12 districts of Himachal Pradesh have reported a Covid positivity rate of more than 10% with Solan on top at 16.92%.

A deserted Ridge in Shimla on Saturday after the administration imposed curbs, allowing only shops of essential items to be open. (Deepak Sansta/HT)

The industrial district that shares its borders with Punjab and Haryana sees heavy movement of migrant labour daily. In the past week alone, Solan reported 1,437 cases.

Shimla is second with a positivity rate of 14.42% followed by Hamirpur at 13.22% and Sirmaur at 12.99%. Kangra, which is the worst hit district in terms of the number of Covid cases, has a positivity rate of 12.74%. The most populous district in the state has reported more than 2,000 Covid cases in just a week.

The sudden spike has resulted in hospitals in the district being full to capacity. The district authorities are now working to ramp up the bed capacity by opening a new Covid Care Centre and seeking the help of private hospitals.

Next on the list is the tribal district of Lahaul-Spiti with a positivity rate of 12.39%. The remote district witnessed a spike in cases this week. The infections were first noticed among migrant labourers and later spread to the local population who came in their contact. Last year, the district had seen a spurt in cases after the opening of Atal Tunnel.

Other districts on the list of high positivity are Shimla at 12.1% and Kullu at 11.6%. Bilaspur, Kinnaur and Chamba are the only three districts with the positivity rate below 10%. Bilaspur has a positivity rate of 9.12%, Kinnaur 7.92% and Chamba 4.39%.

Highest death rate in Shimla

Shimla district has the highest case fatality ratio (CFR) of 2.4%. The district has recorded 315 deaths since the outbreak last March. Of them, 20 deaths have been reported in Shimla in the past week alone.

More than 222 people have tested positive for Covid-19 since Friday evening. Sanjauli, New Shimla and Panthaghat are the new hotspots. The maximum of 19 cases were reported from New Shimla, 10 from Panthaghatti, eight from Sanjauli and nine from Chotta Shimla.

Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital is full to capacity, while only 10 of the 90 beds are unoccupied at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital in Shimla. “The rush of patients is increasing by the day. We are now taking over private hospitals and the government-run Ayurveda Hospital in Chotta Shimla to accommodate more cases,” Shimla chief medical officer Surekha Chopra said.

Kangra, the biggest district in terms of population, has a CFR of 2.09%. The district has recorded 295 Covid deaths in all.

The health authorities say the high death rate in Shimla and Kangra is because only these two districts have tertiary care centres: Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, and Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College, Tanda. Since critical patients are referred to these two health institutions from other districts, the toll remains high.

Kullu, where a total of 90 people have died of Covid till date, has a CFR of 1.6%. Una has seen 94 fatalities and has a CFR of 1.5%. Mandi has recorded 154 deaths and has a CFR of 1.23%.

1,500 more beds, three oxygen plants coming up

After reviewing the Covid situation, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said that an additional 1,500 beds will be made available for Covid patients.

Liquid oxygen plants will soon be functional in all three major medical colleges of the state, namely IGMC, Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda and the medical college at Nerchowk in Mandi district.

He said people of the state coming from different parts of the country must stay in home isolation for at least a week to rule out any possibility of spreading the virus, in case they are infected.