3 test positive in Madhya Pradesh, COVID-19 count reaches 29

The number of COVID-19 cases in Madhya Pradesh on Friday rose to 29 after one person in Bhopal and two in Jabalpur, tested positive for novel coronavirus, health officials said.

While the man who tested positive in Bhopal is a railway employee, the two in Jabalpur work in the shop of a Dubai returnee who earlier tested positive, officials said.

"A railway guard, aged around 50 years, tested positive after being referred to AIIMS Bhopal by a railway hospital here. He had earlier travelled to Jhansi," said the official.

In another development, Bhopal district officials said a one-kilometer area around the homes of COVID-19 patients will be designated as "containment areas".

"All the residents of the containment area would be home quarantined and traffic would be stopped. An additional two kilometre buffer zone would also be created around such areas," an order from the district authorities said.

Of the 29 who tested positive to the novel coronavirus in the state, two have died, officials said.

Indore leads with 12 COVID-19 patients, followed by eight from Jabalpur, three from Bhopal, two each from Shivpuri and Ujjain, and one each in Gwalior and Khandwa.