The case count in Himachal is now 14,252, including 3,501 active cases, 174 deaths, and 10,552 recoveries.

ACTIVE COVID cases in Himachal Pradesh have dropped by more than 20 percent in the last week, with the number of recoveries exceeding the number of new cases during this time, according to official health data.

The number of active cases in the state has dropped from 4,458 on Sept. 21 to 3,501 the night of Sept. 28, a drop of 21.46 percent. During this time, the state has reported 2,716 recoveries compared to 1,814 new cases.

A similar trend has been reported nationwide in recent days. An additional factor behind the decline in active cases in Himachal could be the change in discharge policy by the state. Until mid-September, COVID patients in Himachal were discharged only after being tested again. The state government then decided to follow the ICMR guidelines to discharge asymptomatic patients after ten days without testing.

The case count in Himachal is now 14,252, including 3,501 active cases, 174 deaths, and 10,552 recoveries. By the end of August, the state had reported just 36 deaths and about 6,000 cases.

Some state patients also passed away after being referred to PGI in Chandigarh, and they are not represented in the state’s official COVID statistics.

On Sunday, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur ordered the senior physicians at all COVID centers to visit COVID patients daily to ensure proper treatment. He also asked the superintendents of all the medical schools and the main zone hospitals to guarantee at least two rounds per day to the isolation rooms to control the cleanliness, treatment, the state of the bathrooms and the quality of the food that is given gives to patients.

This comes days after a 54-year-old COVID patient died by suicide in the isolation ward of the Deen Dyal Upadhyay Hospital in Shimla, prompting a public outcry over allegations of neglect during treatment.