Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur blames casual approach, opening of borders for Covid surge

Thakur said that in the initial phase of the pandemic, people were following all precautions and the spread of the disease was slow. However, in the ongoing wedding and festive season, a large number of people are gathering in social functions and refusing to trim down the ceremonies. People are being adamant about organising dham (wedding
feast) and nati (folk dance), he said.

The state has reported 442 Covid deaths so far, and currently has around 6,500 active cases. There were around 2,500 active cases a month ago, with daily recoveries exceeding the new cases. Since then, however, there has been a sharp rise in cases.

On Sunday, Thakur had directed the district authorities to increase bed capacity at the Covid centres, deploy more ambulances with oxygen cylinders for transporting critical patients, and organise more IEC (information, education and communication) activities to discourage people from large gatherings.