Six Covid-19 positive cases from the same family were detected in Govindpur on Wednesday, prompting the East Singhbhum administration to declare parts of the locality as containment and buffer zones.

East Singhbhum DC Ravi Shankar Shukla and SSP M. Tamilvanan on Thursday supervised the containment and buffer zone demarcation and sealing exercises in Govindpur, some 13km south of Jamshedpur.

The Govindpur girl, who had gone to Delhi for a surgery, and her parents, were found Covid-19 positive on Wednesday afternoon. By Wednesday night, three more members of her family tested positive.

A source in the district surveillance unit said the girl, who was asymptomatic, and returned to Govindpur after her surgery in Delhi last week, was advised home quarantine.

“The surveillance unit collected her swab samples along with that of her parents, sister, brother-in-law, their child and grandfather. In the afternoon, the reports of the girl and her parents arrived, they were positive. At night, the samples of three more members of the family were found to be positive. The girl had stayed at home for five days before being shifted to MGM hospital’s isolation ward. All the Covid-19 patients have been shifted to the Tata Main Hospital (TMH) Covid ward,” said the surveillance unit source.

With this, East Singhbhum saw the biggest spike in Covid-19 cases on Wednesday with nine new positive cases.

While six were from the same family in Govindpur, a youth from Golmuri with travel history to Bangalore and two more from Mango with travel history to Mumbai also tested positive.

Fortunately, the youth from Golmuri and Mango were in institutional quarantine at MGM hospital and were transferred to the TMH Covid ward after testing positive.

As on Thursday afternoon, the number of Covid-19 positive cases in the district is 15. Two from Chakulia, one each from Patamda, Sidhgora, Baridih and Jugsalai area have already tested positive.

DC Shukla said they were following the Centre’s protocols to demarcate containment and buffer zones in Govindpur.

The containment boundary is between Murmu Clinic and Payal Ladies Corner and between Gope Petrol Pump to Pragya Kendra. The buffer zone has been demarcated between Ganesh Store and the railway crossing and the area near Xavier School. Each resident in these places has to install the Arogya Setu app. All movement has been banned.

“We set up help booths and helpline number (9771980301) for people’s doorstep delivery of essentials. Volunteers will be present for every 10 houses in the containment zone. With people returning from other states, the danger of Covid-19 has increased and people should cooperate with the administration and stay at home during the lockdown,” said Shukla.

The administration on Thursday started contact-tracing of the six positive cases in a joint operation led by city SP Subhash Chandra Jatt and Dr Mahesh Goyal (epidemiologist). Swab samples of persons with respiratory problems in the area will be collected from their homes.