In Rajasthan, where 27 positive cases of coronavirus have been reported, Bhilwara city has become a cause of serious concern for authorities. Situated over 250 km from the capital Jaipur, the city has become a hotbed for the infection – it has 12 of the total 27 cases in the state, according to BBC.

On Saturday, three doctors and three nurses at a private hospital in the city tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The Rajasthan government has put the city under lockdown alongwith Jhunjhunu, Sikar and Jaipur.

Several states across India have been put under lockdown as the government scrambles to contain the rapidly-spreading coronavirus, which has infected 415 people and killed seven. Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Ladakh, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry and Uttarakhand are among the states where only essential services will be allowed to operate.

Bhilwara MLA Vitthal Shankar Avasthi told BBC that over 600 patients were admitted to the hospital where the positive cases were found and the doctors had checked more than 5,500 people. “We have prepared a list of people who had been examined at the hospital,” Avasthi said. “Twenty-six people suspected of having contracted the infection have been put under isolation and the hospital has been sealed.”

The government has said that it will screen the city’s entire population of 4.5 lakh. “We have 300 medical teams that are going door-to-door to screen people,” Rohit Kumar Singh, Additional Chief Secretary of Rajasthan Health Department, told BBC. “We will screen all the residents of Bhilwara and those in the neighbouring towns and villages.”

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Monday ordered officials to prepare 1 lakh isolation beds, the Hindustan Times reported. “There is nothing bigger than saving lives and for this, the government will ensure all possible measures by taking all into confidence,” he says.