12, including 11 in contact with Tablighi members, test +ve

Twelve people, including 11 who came in contact with Tablighi Jamaat members at a mosque in Katghora town of Korba, have tested positive for coronavirus in Chhattisgarh, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases in the state to 30, an official said on Sunday.

Katghora, located around 200 km from the state capital Raipur, has emerged as the COVID-19 hotspot in the state.

The town has been sealed and samples of all people residing in the affected area are being taken for testing, Katghora's Sub-Divisional Magistrate Suryakiran Tiwari said.

Seven people from Katghora tested positive for coronavirus late Saturday night and four on Sunday. Besides, the test of a woman from Bilaspur district also came out positive for the viral infection, an official from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) here told PTI.

With this, the number of coronavirus patients in Purani Basti area of Katghora town has gone up to 20.

The 11 people who tested positive for coronavirus in Katghora in the last 24 hours had come in contact with 16 Tablighi Jamaat members staying at a mosque in Purani Basti area of the town, another official said.

A 16-year-old boy from the 16-member Tablighi Jamaat group tested positive for coronavirus on April 4, after which eight others from Purani Basti area contracted the infection, he said.

Samples of all those who came in contact with the Jamaat members and people tested positive in the area had been sent for testing, Tiwari said.

So far, 10 people from the state have been discharged after recovering from the infection.

The coronavirus tests are being conducted at AIIMS, Raipur, and Jagdalpur Medical College (Bastar) in the state.