The area in Katghora town ofChhattisgarhs Korba district, from where seven new COVID-19 cases were detected on Thursday, is being completely sealed and mass testing of its residents will be carried out, officials here said.Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has given instructions to the Principal Secretary (Health( and Korba collector to seal the affected area of Katghora and get everyone tested there for coronavirus, an official here said.Seven people, including a woman, tested positive for COVID-19 in the Purani Basti area of Katghora on Thursday. On Wednesday, a 52-year-old man from the same locality had also tested positive.All these eight people had come in contact with 16 Tablighi Jamaat members who were staying at a mosque in the area after arriving from Maharashtra last month, he said.Earlier on April 4, a 16-year-old boy, who was among these Jamaat members, had tested positive for COVID-19.The chief minister has ordered constitution of a special team and setting up a 'war room' to contain the spread of the infection and handle the situation in the area, the official said.Officials have been directed to identify and place in quarantine all those who have arrived in the affected area or moved out of there during the last 20 days, he said.All the doctors, health workers and government employees working in the area during this period will be examined for COVID-19, the official said.The Katghora town is located around 200 km from the state capital Raipur.All the eight people who tested positive in the area in the last 24 hours have been admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Raipur.With this, a total of 10 COVID-19 cases have been detected in Korba district so far, while the number of confirmed cases in the state has reached 18.However, nine of the patients have been discharged from hospitals after recovering from the disease, he said.According to the Korba police, one of the 16 members of the Jamaat, who arrived in Katghora from Maharashtra, had attended the congregation in Nizamuddin in New Delhi last month that emerged as a key source of the coronavirus spread.
