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Entire Indian village - except one man - tests positive for coronavirus

Emily Cleary
·2 min read
Gaddi shepherds stop with their flock of sheep and goats at a temporary shelter against a backdrop of the snow-covered Dhauladhar range of the Himalaya in Dharmsala, Himachal Pradesh state, India, Sunday, April 19, 2020. The Gaddis, which remain mobile most of the year taking their flocks to green pastures, are given special passes to move during the lockdown in the state. (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)
The Himachal Pradesh state in India, is suffering a surge in cases of coronavirus (AP Photo/Ashwini Bhatia)

An entire Indian village, except for one person, has tested positive for coronavirus.

All residents of Thorang in the Lahaul valley in Himachal Pradesh, have tested positive for COVID-19.

The only negative test returned went to 52-year-old Bhushan Thakur.

The Lahaul-Spiti valley has become the worst-affected district in its state in terms of population ratio.

The surge in cases in Lahaul valley has forced local authorities to enforce a ban on tourists entering the remote area.

"I'm staying in a separate room and have been cooking my own meals for the last four days,” Thakur told Times of India.

HIMACHAL PRADESH, INDIA - 2013/06/05: Aerial view on Ki Gompa, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery located on top of a hill at an altitude of 4,166 metres, the Spiti Valley and snow covered mountains in the background.. (Photo by Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The state of Himachal Pradesh reported 12 more COVID-19 fatalities on Thursday, taking the death toll to 481, while 796 new cases pushed the tally to 32,198. (Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty Images)

“I was with my family members until we got to know about the results. However, I was strict about all protocols like sanitising hands, wearing face masks, and social distancing while in public areas.

“People should not take this disease lightly. As winter season is setting in, people should take extra precautions.”

The virus spread in the village is thought to be a result of all residents attending a religious event last week.

Most villagers have migrated for the winter but of the 42 remaining, 41 have now been confirmed as having COVID-19.

Coronavirus cases have been rising in the region over recent weeks.

Himachal Pradesh reported 12 more COVID-19 fatalities on Thursday, taking the death toll in the state to 481, while 796 new cases pushed the tally to 32,198.

In September, India’s number of coronavirus cases passed an ‘inevitable’ five million.

When the grim milestone was passed, Gautam Menon, professor of physics and biology at India’s Ashoka University said: "It's inevitable that this had to happen unless you managed to clamp down on it very rigorously right at the beginning, which very few countries have managed to do... but with a country with the complexity and scale of India, it's hard to imagine that one would be able to do that in any rigorous way."

India has seen more than nine million cases of COVID-19, and registered 132,000 deaths as a result of the virus.

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