Total number of cases in city touches 75.

A man and a woman from Indore died of COVID-19 on Thursday morning, taking the toll owing to the illness to five in the city. Whereas the State reported nine new cases on the day, said Health Principal Secretary Pallavi Jain Govil. Late night, Bhopal reported four new cases. The State count stands at 111.

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Among the new cases reported on Thursday, seven are from Indore and two from Morena, according to the State Health bulletin. This takes the count in Indore to 82.

“There has been an improvement in the condition of 30 patients, and they will be in the condition to be discharged within a day or two, when their second test turns out to be negative,” Ms. Jain Govil said, adding that one patient was in a critical condition and under observation.

Late on Thursday night, the Bhopal administration said four members of the Tablighi Jamaat had tested positive — while one person is from the Ivory Coast, two are from Myanmar and one is from Odisha.

Indore had reported 12 new cases on Wednesday night, according to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, Indore.

No travel history

Among the deceased, the man, aged 54, and the woman, 65, did not have any contact or travel history. While no new patient from Indore has a travel history, just one case has had a confirmed contact with an infected person, even as health officials scramble to zero in on the source in Indore. Eight patients in the State have succumbed to the illness so far.

Among the new cases, three men, aged 21 years, 22 years and 44 years, live at the same address in Tanzim Nagar in Indore as the nine persons, including two toddlers, who tested positive for the disease on Tuesday night. While the other new cases are symptomatic, the three men showed no symptoms of the disease.

Just two women from Indore tested positive, while the remaining ten are men. The women are aged 80 years and 53 years, while the men’s ages range from 38 years to 54 years.

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“The deceased woman had co-morbidities of diabetes and hypothyroidism. She had a clinical history of cough, fever and weakness,” said Dr. Rahul Rokade of the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College. “The patient was admitted to the MRTB hospital on March 29, and died at 9.30 a.m. on Thursday.” The patient lived in Khajrana, a congested area where several people have tested positive.

A resident of Moti Tabela, the man died at 10 a.m. on Thursday. He had breathlessness for the past two and fever for 15 days. He was admitted to the MY Hospital’s chest ward on March 29 and confirmed positive for the illness on Wednesday, said Dr. Rokade.

Meanwhile, Morena district reported its first two cases, a couple, on Thursday. District Chief Medical and Health Officer R.C bandil said, “The 40-year-old man had returned from Dubai on March 17. While his wife developed a cough and cold, he developed headache and fever. They have been admitted to a hospital.”

Until 9 p.m. on Wednesday, of the 32 patients in Indore, the condition of 24 had improved, while eight remained in a critical condition, according to the college.

‘Patients recovering’

Whereas Indore Collector Manish Singh on Wednesday afternoon said 20 patients had already recovered, he added, “But we will keep them at the hospital for a while. Once they test negative twice, we will discharge them. Patients are recovering from this disease.”

Doctors earlier told The Hindu that congested areas in the city were a hotspot. “Areas like Ranipura and Daulatganj are a challenge for us and we are having a special focus on Khajrana and Chandan Nagar. In Azad Nagar, where one person had tested positive, we confined 70 persons in quarantine. We are cordoning these areas using force,” said Mr. Singh.

Besides Indore, Jabalpur has registered eight cases, Ujjain six, Bhopal eight, Shivpuri, Gwalior and Morena two each, and Khargone one. Two residents of Ujjain and one of Khargone have died.

To enforce the lockdown strictly and monitor possible contacts, the State government has declared 17 containment zones around houses of the patients in Indore, six in Jabalpur and two each in Bhopal, Gwalior,Shivpuri and Ujjain.