SHIMLA: In the last two years of the pandemic, Himachal Pradesh has reported 4,103 deaths and 2,83,366 positive cases, of which 2,78,591 people have recovered.
During the second wave of Covid-19, Himachal had reported 450 deaths in April 2021, 1,645 in May 2021 and 318 in June 2021. Of the total deaths so far, over 58% deaths (2,413) were reported in April, May and June last year.
With the removal of restrictions and opening of schools, the situation is returning to normal in the state and resumption of tourism and industrial activities has brought much needed relief to the people concerned. During the second wave, the state government had rapidly expanded health infrastructure in the state.
While speaking in the legislative assembly on Wednesday, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur stated that from 52 ventilators in the initial days, the state now has 1,014 ventilators.
He said from the 3,000 oxygen cylinders earlier, there are 17,000 in the state now. Himachal had reported its first Covid death in March 2020 and by the year's end, the count had risen to 936. In 2020, maximum deaths were reported from September to December — 153 in September, 136 in October, 341 in November and 269 in December.
During the third wave of Covid-19, the hill state has reported 250 deaths so far. The state’s active case trend shows that the number of cases has increased from 2,793 on January 8 and reached a peak of 17,295 cases on January 22. The number of active cases then declined to 7,539 on February 3 and further to 653 cases as on Wednesday 2pm. On March 2, 2022, out of a total bed capacity of 3,345, only 31 beds were occupied in the hospitals.
The bed occupancy initially increased by nearly six times in two weeks, and then declined. On January 8, 51 beds were occupied, of them 31 patients required oxygen and only three patients needed ventilators. Furthermore, January 22, out of 17,295 active cases, 302 Covid patients required admission.
