<span style="color: #222222;">Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jairam Thakur has directed the officers to take timely measures to control the spread of COVID-19. Expressing concern over COVID related deaths in the state, the Chief Minister Jairam Thakur said that an effective strategy should be devised to reduce deaths due to Coronavirus. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">AIR Correspondent reports, as per the data released by the state government, 38 per cent COVID deaths have been reported within 24 hours of hospitalisation in the state. Whereas, 11.3 per cent COVID patients lost their lives within 48 hours of admission in various hospitals. Chief Minister Jairam Thakur has expressed serious concern over these figures, as it shows that 49.8 per cent COVID patients died due to delay in seeking medical aid. Jai Ram Thakur directed the officers that special emphasis should be given to shift serious patients of home isolation to hospitals so that they can be treated on time. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He directed the Deputy Commissioners and Chief Medical Officers to maintain coordination with the MLAs of their respective districts for proper distribution of the home isolation kits. Meanwhile, Corona curfew has played a significant role in bringing down fresh cases of COVID -19. The positivity rate has declined to 19.5 per cent in the last week which was earlier 28.9 per cent in the state.</span><br />''  <br />