With thirteen more positive cases reported till Thursday night, the total number of active COVID-19 cases here has risen to 64, district Chief Medical Officer Dr Archana Soni said here.
She said that the total number of positive cases had risen to 3,148, while 49 people have succumbed to the dreaded virus. The number of cured cases now stood at 3,034.
The virus is spreading fast in the district that is located in the middle of the state.
Gone are the days when people and the administration used to raise hue and cry when one single case was reported, said the CMO.
Now no day passes without at least five cases surfacing.
However, nine older cases were cured today, as per Dr Soni.
In the wake of surging cases, people who have lost their relatives to the virus are demanding the postponement of the annual fairs and festivals in the state and enforcement of strict guidelines to contain the spread.
Surprisingly, the people testing positive are the youth of both sexes, a matter of concern for all.
The administration today appealed to the people to strictly observe the issued guidelines and thus save the environment from polluting further.
Meanwhile, the situation in the district due to the spread of the COVID-19 is becoming critical and tense. The arrival of the devotees from Punjab and other parts of the Northern India to the district to take part in the annual fairs (melas) from places where number of COVID-19 cases were rising steadily has brought a sense of uneasiness to the state government and it was going to take stringent measures by March 20th if the situation didn’t improve, as per a latest report received here from Shimla.
State Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur is also upset with the growing cases of the COVID-19 in the state and he had even shared his views with the Shimla media after talking with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi two days ago.
It is not understood when the government of Punjab can ask those visiting the state to take part in a Hola Mohalla festival at Anandpur Sahib with a COVID-19 certificate, why such orders are not issued by the HP government to those that were visiting the state to take part in the fairs under operations in different parts of the state including one at Deotsidh and another at Mairi sahib in Una district.
It’s worth mentioning here that the Government of Punjab has asked those visiting Hola Mohalla at Anandpur Sahib fair from foreign countries to bring with them the Negative COVID-19 certificates failing which they would not be allowed to enter the fair complex.
On other hand, an official spokesman said that the arrangements have been made in all gram panchayats for registration of these people for vaccination.
Apart from this, a registration center has also been set up in the premises of the Deputy Commissioner for the convenience of people of these age groups coming for their works.
The District Red cross Society has also set up a registration center in its lab located in the premises of Medical College Hospital Hamirpur.
Deputy Commissioner Debasweta Banik said that people between the ages of 45 to 59 years will have to submit the form filled by the doctor about the co-diseases for registration for vaccination. She said that in order to fill the forms of such people on priority basis, the doctors posted in the OPD have been made available in advance and the people of this age group coming for health check-up were required to get these forms filled and vaccinated.
The Deputy Commissioner has appealed to all senior citizens above 60 years of age in the district and all those aged 45 to 59 years suffering from co-morbidities to get them registered for vaccinated purposes.