BHOPAL: The number of COVID-19 patients in Madhya Pradesh reached 27 after a railway employee tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Friday, a state health official said.
He said the sample that returned positive was one of 14 sent for testing to AIIMS in Bhopal.
"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 27 who tested positive to the novel coronavirus in the state, two have died, officials said.
Indore leads with 12 COVID-19 patients, followed by six from Jabalpur, three from Bhopal, two each from Shivpuri and Ujjain, and one each in Gwalior and Khandwa.