8 army personnel test positive for Covid-19 in Uttarakhand, Char Dham shrines open for pilgrims

Uttarakhand reported 66 fresh Covid-19 cases on Wednesday.

With 66 fresh Covid-19 cases reported in the state on Wednesday, the Covid-19 tally in Uttarakhand jumped to 2,947. The recovery rate also crossed 78 percent with 86 fresh recoveries reported on Wednesday.

Arrangements being made at Badrinath shrine for ensuring physical distancing among pilgrims. (HT Photo)

The 66 fresh cases were reported from districts like Almora (5), Haridwar (2), Champawat (2), Dehradun (20), Nainital (22), Tehri Garhwal (4), Udham Singh Nagar (2) and Uttarkashi (9).

Of the 66 patients, one case was a healthcare worker from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), eight cases were of army personnel with travel history to Chennai, Haryana, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Jabalpur and West Bengal. Nine were those with no travel history, 18 cases were of people who were found as contacts of earlier detected Covid-19 positive patients.

The others had returned to the state from places like Afghanistan, Maharashtra, Delhi-NCR, Chennai, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.

The rate of doubling of cases based on the last seven days stands at 46.72 days in the state with a recovery rate of 78.62 percent.

Districts like Dehradun with 712 cases, Nainital with 496 cases, Tehri Garhwal with 420 cases and Haridwar (315 cases), have the highest number of cases in the state. Champawat district with 57 cases has the lowest number of Covid-19 cases in the state.

Uttarakhand has so far tested over 70,000 samples of which results of over 5,100 are awaited.

The state has 93 containment zones reported from five districts with 68 such zones from Haridwar district, 15 from Dehradun, two from Udham Singh Nagar, five in Tehri Garhwal district and three in Uttarkashi district.

Meanwhile, as Char Dham shrines opened for pilgrims from Uttarakhand on Wednesday, 422 online registrations were made on the first day.

Pilgrims can register themselves on the website www.badrinath-kedarnath.gov.in for obtaining the e-pass required for visiting the shrines. For Kedarnath shrine, 165 bookings were made - 154 for Badrinath, 55 for Gangotri and 48 for Yamunotri.

Ravinathan Raman, chief executive officer of Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board said that arrangements for thermal screening, sanitization, masks have been made at Badrinath and Kedarnath shrines.

“Touching of idols in the temple, distribution of offerings is prohibited and the bells are also covered. Passenger rest houses at Guptkashi and Sonprayag on Badrinath and Kedarnath yatra route have been opened for the pilgrims,” said Raman.