Covid 19 strikes Bhopal, 9 dists locked down

Bhopal, March 22 (IANS) Covid 19 hit Bhopal on Sunday with a woman testing positive for the virus. The woman who is studying law in London recently returned to Bhopal.

The case prompted the authorities to extend the lockdown in Bhopal that started on Sunday morning till March 24 mdnight, Divisional Commissioner Kalpana Shrivastava said.

The case is first from Bhopal and fifth in Madhya Pradesh. Four persons tested positive in Jabalpur on Friday.

The student recently returned from London and her test report was found positive for coronavirus, said the Commissioner.

She is admitted to a hospital and being treated and the area around her residence is being sanitised. Bhopal collector Tarun Kumar Pithode, however, said there was no need to panic as standard protocols were being followed.

“As soon as we got information on Saturday, she was quarantined. Her sample was found positive on Sunday. She was admitted to a hospital and her treatment has already begun,” Pithode said.

The student’s family was advised to stay isolated and take all precautionary measures.

Within 48 hours after the state found itself on the national Covid 19 map with four positive cases in Jabalpur, most people in Madhya Pradesh shut themselves indoors in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for ‘Janata curfew’ on Sunday.

Lockdown was announced for nine districts – Bhopal, Jabalpur, Seoni, Narsinghpur, Chhindwara, Balaghat, Seoni, Betul, Ratlam and Gwalior for one to three days, according to caretaker health minister Tarun Bhanot. Narsinghpur has been ordered shut for 14 days.

Jabalpur which witnessed the first positive cases on Friday evening will also remain shut till March 24. Three persons from a family arriving from Dubai and one from Germany tested positive and were moved to the medical college hospital in Jabalpur.

“Their condition is stable,” said Bhanot who happens to be from Jabalpur. The town was stunned to silence on Sunday. The healthcare services all over the state are under intensive monitoring, Bhanot said

Three of these four persons, residents of a densely populated area in Jabalpur, apparently contacted several people since their return from abroad.

One of them has been booked for not informing the authorities of his return from abroad on March 16, official sources said. “As many as 21 people who came in close contact with him, had been quarantined,” an official said.

In most other cities including the capital Bhopal Sunday began on an unusually quiet note with most people skipping morning walks and jogging schedule and roads were deserted. Passenger train services through the state have been cancelled till March 31.
The cabinet secretary and the chief secretary on Sunday decided to keep the state government offices closed till March 31. The staff was directed to work from home.
Gardens, stadia and other public grounds and temples and other religious places that usually witness crowds on Sundays, wore a deserted look. Road-side shops and eateries also remained closed across the state.

IANS