Shimla, Aug 18 (PTI) Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday recorded 61 fresh coronavirus cases, including a BJP MLA, a driver and 12 security personnel attached with Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.

With the fresh cases, the number of infection in the state reached 4,236. So far, 18 people have died from the infection in the state, an official said.

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According to Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R D Dhiman, Solan MLA Paramjeet Singh Pammi tested positive for novel coronavirus on Tuesday.

He is being shifted to Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, after suffering from high-grade fever, the hospital's Senior Medical Superintendent Dr Janak Raj said.

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The MLA had recently visited Punjab's Amritsar.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, he had stated that he got a chance of paying obeisance at the Golden Temple after several months.

Earlier in the day, the Himachal Pradesh authorities reported that 12 security personnel and a driver of Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur tested positive for the virus.

They were in institutional quarantine after a security guard and a driver of Thakur contracted the infection a few days ago.

Shimla reported 15 fresh cases, followed by Mandi (14); Una and Kullu (11 each); Kangra (four); Chamba and Hamirpur (two each); and Sirmaur and Solan (one each), Dhiman said.

Eighty-nine patients recovered from the disease on Tuesday.

Solan saw 32 recoveries, followed by 13 in Sirmaur; 10 in Bilaspur; eight each in Kangra and Chamba; seven each in Mandi and Hamirpur; three in Kullu; and one in Shimla.

So far, 2,923 people have been cured of the disease. The state now has 1,253 active COVID-19 cases, Dhiman said.

Solan has the highest number of active cases in the state at 310, followed by 176 in Kullu, 124 in Sirmaur, 126 in Mandi, 114 in Kangra, 107 in Una, 91 in Chamba, 75 in Shimla, 60 in Hamirpur, 53 in Bilaspur, 15 in Kinnaur and two in Lahaul-Spiti.

Forty patients have migrated out of the state, Dhiman added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)