JAIPUR: A family of three from Jhunjhunu, who returned from Italy on March 8, tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday. Following this, the state government imposed Section 144 in the state till March 31.Nine other states and Union territories, from Ladakh to Tamil Nadu in the country, reported fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the count so far to 170. Altogether 28 fresh cases were reported from across the country on Wednesday. This is so far the highest number of states/UTs reporting new cases in a single day. The Union health ministry has confirmed 151 cases so far.Meanwhile, following the imposition of Section 144, Rajasthan police will have powers to disperse large gatherings. The state government has imposed a curfew in the one-km radius of the residence of the three patients in Jhunjhunu. The first containment zone in the state to prevent the spread of the virus has also been created in the area.Additional chief secretary (health) Rohit Kumar Singh said, “From Thursday early morning, 350 teams will begin an intense surveillance in three zones in Jhunjhunu—within the radius of 1km, 3km and 5km, respectively. They will screen the entire population so as to prevent the formation of any virus positive cluster.”He said the rapid response team has left for Jhunjhunu. Two director-level officers, five other officers, representatives of WHO and Unicef will be in Jhunjhunu for the next two days to supervise the comprehensive screening of the entire 5km zone from the epicentre — the residence of the family that tested positive.The Jhunjhunu family of three — a 30-year-old man, his 34-year-old wife and their three-year-old daughter — were kept in home isolation since their return from Italy. The family has settled in Italy for years and the husband is working in the hospitality sector.The government appealed to the people of Jhunjhunu to remain inside their houses. Following this, a high-level review meeting was held on Wednesday night, headed by chief minister Ashok Gehlot.The CM issued orders to rush all the three positive cases from Jhunjhunu to Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur for treatment. The diagnostic facilities for Covid-19 has been expanded to other cities— Ajmer, Kota, Bharatpur and Jhunjhunu. Moreover, the capacity of diagnosis of Covid-19 has been doubled at SMS Hospital, Jaipur.Gehlot said that three hotels have been identified near the airport to conduct the screening of those travelling by international flights.So far, seven persons have tested positive for the virus in the state, including the family of three from Jhunjhunu. All the seven, including an Italian couple, have a history of travelling abroad.Speaking about the three new cases from Jhunjhunu, Singh said, “They have tested positive for the disease.”The 30-year-old man is employed with a hotel at Bruneck in Italy. “He had left Jhunjhunu a long time ago to Italy for work. He served as a waiter at a hotel there,” said district collector Umar Deen Khan.With Italy becoming the epicentre of the virus in Europe, he opted to fly to India along with his family. He reached home in Jhunjhunu city where six of his close relatives live.The report of family testing positive came at around 8pm on Wednesday. The district administration and health authorities swung into action and rushed a team to quarantine all those who were in close contact with the family.“They reside in the main city area. We have sent our teams to the area to disinfect their house. Also, we are tracing those who were in contact with them. Teams are screening those living in the house and the neighbourhood. We are collecting details of all those who might have come into contact with them,” said Khan.As of now, the family has been kept in the isolation ward of the district hospital in Jhunjhunu. “They reached from Italy on March 7. We received the information of their arrival on March 8. We have been constantly keeping a watch on their health since their arrival. We had sent our team to their house and kept them in home quarantine,” said Dr S K Kaler, principal medical officer of district hospital, Jhunjhunu.“Doctors kept a close eye on their health and provided treatment as per protocol,” he said.Health department teams kept visiting their house on a daily basis. When they developed influenza-like symptoms on Tuesday, they were taken to the district hospital and samples given for Covid-19 test. They were admitted to the isolation ward. Since Covid-19 diagnostic test facility is not available in Jhunjhunu, the samples were sent to Sawai Man Singh Hospital.“We received their samples on Tuesday. Our microbiology lab conducted the test on a priority basis and they tested positive for the disease on Wednesday evening. We have informed the authorities in Jhunjhunu about the test result,” said Dr D S Meena, medical superintendent, SMS Hospital.