15 more test positive for coronavirus in Rajasthan; total count 108

Fifteen fresh cases of coronavirus were reported from Rajasthan on Wednesday with 13 of them detected in the Ramganj area of Jaipur's walled city, taking the count of the infected people to 108 in the state, an official said.

Jaipur has now become a major coronavirus hotspot in the country with 34 cases, 26 of which have been reported from the Ramganj area, a densely populated locality.

The other two cases were reported from Jodhpur, where a 65-year-old man with no travel history and a 61-year-old woman evacuated from Iran last week tested positive for the disease, Additional Chief Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said.

The woman has been kept at an army facility there, he added.

"Thirteen more positive cases of COVID-19 have come up in the Ramganj area. All are contacts of the first person who had tested positive in the area. All have been kept in isolation," Kumar said.

A spurt in the number of cases in the Ramganj area was witnessed after a 45-year-old man with a travel history to the Middle East region was tested positive on March 26.

He had landed at the Delhi airport on March 12 and took a bus the same day to return home.

He met several people till March 26 when he was tested positive, officials said.

Ten members of his family and a friend had also contracted the disease.

The Ramganj area had earlier reported 13 coronavirus cases, including 11 members of a family living in a multi-storey building in Phhuta Khurra of the area.

The administration from Wednesday has extended the prohibitory orders and the curfew in Jaipur district for an indefinite period.

Gathering of more than five people at any public place, religious and other functions without the permission of subdivisional magistrate (SDM) has been declared illegal and punishable under Section 188 of the IPC, said District Collector Jogaram in his order.

As several people were seen on rooftops, the administration has decided to monitor the curfew with the help of drones, he said.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajeeva Swarup said a flag march will be conducted. NGOs distributing food can continue to serve the needy but they have to give food packets to administration teams.

Jaipur Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Narrottam Sharma said the authorities have been closely monitoring the situation and about 125 close contacts of the positive patients have been sent to quarantine facilities.

He said over 70,000 people have been screened and about 15,000 households in the walled city area have been surveyed by health teams.

Sharma urged people to call on 181 if anyone found having fever, cough and cold.