Railway Guard Among 3 More COVID-19 Cases in MP, Count Reaches 29; CM Orders Closure of Alcohol Shops

Bhopal: The number of coronavirus cases in Madhya Pradesh increased to 29 on Friday, with three men, including a railway guard, testing positive, an official said.

Of the 29 coronavirus cases in the state, two -- one from Indore and another from Ujjain -- have died, while 27 patients are being treated at hospitals.

A 61-year-old man, a railway guard, tested positive at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal. "He had been referred to the AIIMS by Railway hospital," said a health department official.

The man is a resident of Durga Nagar in Chandbar in Bhopal and had travelled to many cities, including Jhansi, Nagpur and Aurangabad, for work.

In Jabalpur, two persons who worked at the shop of a businessman who had returned from Dubai tested positive. The businessman and his family members were the first coronavirus cases in the state.

Meanwhile, the Bhopal district administration said that area in one-km radius from the residence of coronavirus patients would considered as a "containment area".

All the residents of a containment area would be home-quarantined and traffic would be stopped, the order stated. An additional two-km buffer zone would also be created around such areas.

There are 13 cases in Indore, eight in Jabalpur, three in Bhopal, two each in Shivpuri and Ujjain and one in Gwalior, according to state officials.

Bhopal Mayor Alok Sharma distributed food packets among poor people during day. Volunteer organisations and police officers also helped homeless people with food and other essentials.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has ordered closure of all liquor shopts -- whether selling 'foreign' or 'country-made -- as such shops attract crowds, official sources said.

The CM also held a video conference with senior officers and social organisations to take stock of the situation.

On Thursday, he had written to CMs of all other states urging them let his government know if anyone from their state is stranded in Madhya Pradesh, and promised all possible support.

The government on has also come out with helpline numbers -- 104 or 181 – for locals stranded in other states and were in need of help.

Meanwhile, heavy rain lashed several districts in the state, causing damage to standing crops in fields.

(With inputs from PTI)