HP becomes Covid free as active cases fall to zero

Thirty-four months after the pandemic outbreak, Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday became Covid-free state with zero active cases.

Last two remaining patients recovered from the viral infection on Tuesday, as per the daily health bulletin of National Health Mission, Himachal Pradesh. Of the 665 samples tested on Tuesday, none turned out to be positive.

Himachal Pradesh had recorded its first case of Covid on March 20, 2022.

The day it became Covid-free, the total case count in the state stood at 3,12,704. The deadly virus has claimed 4,192 lives, but nore than 3.08 lakh people have also recovered.

Among the 12 districts, Kangra, population-wise the largest one, was also the worst-hit due to the pandemic where 70,202 people were infected and 1,266 lost their lives.

Mandi recorded as many as 43,065 cases, while Shimla stood third in the tally with 39,991 as its total case count. As many as 728 people died in Shimla and 515 in Mandi.

Following the outbreak in March 2020, the first wave peaked in November and after a gap of three months, second wave hit the state in February 2021 with the Delta variant of the Covid-19 wreaking havoc across India.

Second wave hit its peak in May 2021 when with the state recording 91,043 cases in a month. Nearly 2,500 people died during the second wave of the pandemic in just three months.

The third wave which hit the state at the end of December 2021 and continued through the February of 2022 was comparatively less lethal and over 1,200 people lost their lives during this time.