‘Himachal in reverse gear’
Himachal Pradesh BJP president Rajeev Bindal had been the health minister in the party-led government from 2007 to 2012.
The Himachal Pradesh government will review its decision of opening educational institutions in the state after 52 students have tested positive for Coronavirus since 2 August, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Monday.
Talking to the media, Thakur said the government is concerned over the students testing positive for Covid and the issue will be discussed in the Cabinet meeting that will be held in Shimla on Tuesday.
“We review the decision of opening educational institutions in the state and a decision will be taken after discussions with stakeholders,” he added.
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There had been a consistent rise in Covid cases in the state in the month of August and the opening of educational institutions had led to students’ too testing positive for the viral disease.
The Covid cases in the state had increased to 1962 as on 8 August from 858 cases on 26 July and the positivity rate had climbed up to 1.9 in Himachal.
A state government official said a total of 1,726 persons had tested positive for Coronavirus in the week from 2 to 8 August which had become a cause of concern.
“The increase in Covid cases is a cause of concern and people should remain alert ahead of likely third wave in the state and they should adopt Covid appropriate behaviour at public places,” he added.
Officials of the health department said the state government was mulling random sampling of people across the state including at crowded places and public meetings as a preventive measure.
The highest number of active Covid cases had been reported in Chamba district with 443 cases, followed by Mandi (405), Shimla (284), Kangra (255), Hamirpur (167) and Kullu (146).
At present, the occupancy of oxygenated beds in the state is 2.1 per cent while occupancy of ICU beds is 11.99.
In all, there are 2289 oxygen beds and 267 ICU beds in the state.
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