Two new clusters of Covid-19 infections in Delhi emerged on Thursday after 46 people in North Delhi’s Jahangirpuri and 11 members of a family in the old quarters of the city tested positive, NDTV reported. The cases made nearly half of the total 128 Covid-19 patients reported in the Capital on Thursday, according to figures released by the Delhi government.

In Jahangirpuri, 46 people who tested positive are from the same area where 31 members of a family were found to be infected last week. With this, the total tally of cases reported from the locality rose to 77. Six police personnel in the locality have also tested positive.

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“Forty-six people living in H Block of Jahangirpuri tested positive for the Covid-19,” North District Magistrate Deepak Shinde told NDTV. “This area has already been sealed after detailed screening was carried out and samples taken.”

Jahangirpuri councillor Poonam Bagri said samples of residents of these areas were collected earlier this week after authorities conducted a door-to-door survey, the Hindustan Times reported. District officials have also suggested undertaking micro-containment of the H block from where the cases were reported.

Meanwhile, in Old Delhi, 11 members of a family who tested positive were residents of Churan Walan area, a containment zone, located near the Jama Masjid. The patients have been admitted to Lok Nayak Hospital in the Capital, according to NDTV. The affected people in the family include a two-month-old infant.

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A member of the family, who travelled to Uzbekistan last month, had concealed his travel history from authorities. However, he later exhibited Covid-19 symptoms such as coughing and breathlessness, following which he was screened and tested positive, unidentified officials told NDTV.

However, the district magistrate of Central Delhi told the Hindustan Times that the infected persons in Old Delhi belong to two different families, who seem to share a common address. “They might be living on two different floors of the same building,” Nidhi Srivastava said. “We came to know of the case after the families got tested at a private clinic. We are currently assessing the area,” she added. “We are still investigating the source of the infection.”

The number of coronavirus cases in Delhi rose to 2,376 on Friday morning with 50 deaths. Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases in India jumped to 23,077 on Friday morning, but the Indian Council of Medical Research said at least 23,502 people have tested positive so far. The toll rose to 718, while the number of patients who have recovered stood at 4,748.

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