At least 10 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Madhya Pradesh's Morena city after attending a funeral feast, forcing the authorities to place over 26,000 people in over 3,000 houses in the city under home quarantine for 14 days.

The feast was hosted by a Dubai-returned man, identified as Suresh, for his dead mother, and was attended by at least 1,500 people.

The man works as a waiter in Dubai and had come to Morena on 17 March. He had organised the ceremony on 20 March, reports NDTV.

About five days after the feast, on 25 March, Suresh started developing symptoms of coronavirus infection, but he visited a hospital four days later.

He and his wife were put in quarantine, and they were the first to be tested positive for COVID-19 on 2 April. The authorities then tested 23 of his close relatives and found 10 of them positive as well.

While speaking to reporters, Morena's Chief Medical Officer Dr RC Bandil said, "We sent 23 samples of the contacts of the two positive patients and received the reports on Friday. Out of them, 10, including eight women, have tested positive for the virus."

The couple's relatives include the waiter’s brother, his wife, their son and daughter-in-law and their two children — a six-month-old baby and a three-year-old toddler.

The other four persons are from the waiter’s sister’s family, reported Hindustan Times.

After the case came forwarded, a locality in Monera with 26,000 people in 3,000 homes had been sealed off and people were ordered to home quarantine as a precautionary measure, an official told PTI.

People in the locality, comprising Ward number 47 in Prem Nagar and surrounding areas, had attended the function organised by the couple on 20 March, Sub Divisional Magistrate RS Bakna said.

"As a precautionary measure, around 26,000 people living in 3,000 houses have been ordered home quarantine for 14 days," the SDM stated. He said samples of 22 people living close to the couple's residence have been sent for coronavirus testing.

"Morena Resident Medical Officer (BMO) Dr Padmesh Upadhyay has been tasked to keep a watch over the cordoned off area," he said.

On Saturday, India reported 355 fresh cases in 12 hours, bringing the country's tally of coronavirus positive cases to 2,902.

"Of the 2,902 cases, 2,650 are active cases and 184 have been cured or discharged or have migrated," said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With inputs from agencies

Updated Date: April 04, 2020 16:05:44 IST