Jaipur,  Recording the highest number of corona positive cases in a day, Rajasthan on Friday reported a total of 46 COVID-19 cases including nine evacuees from Iran, which took the total tally to 179 in the state out of which 33 are Tablighi Jamaat members, confirmed health officials.

Additional chief secretary Rohit Kumar Singh said that two new cases came up on Friday evening in Jaipur from Ramganj, while three were reported from Alwar.

Overall, on Friday, a total of 14 new cases came up in Jaipur, Tonk had 12, Alwar had three, Bharatpur had two, Udaipur had three, Bikaner two, Dausa had one, making it 37 in total while with nine evacuees from Iran, the total tally is 46 new cases, he said.

In the last three days, 33 Tablighi Jamaat members and over 12 of their contacts have increased the number of COVID-19 patients in the state.

Two districts - Bharatpur and Dholpur recorded their first cases of Covid-19 on Thursday, linked to the Tablighi Jamaat.

Similarly, Bikaner and Dausa reported their first corona cases due to Tablighi Jamaat members from here. Health officials confirmed that the number may jump more in the next few days.

State health minister Dr Raghu Sharma has appealed to all to cooperate with health and police officials. "Those who came in touch with any Tablighi Jamaat member should come forward and get themselves tested while rendering the duty of a good citizen," he said.

Sharma directed all the Chief Medical and health officials of the state to ensure intensive screening, contact tracing and sampling of people exposed to positive cases to prevent the threat of community spreading.

The vicious cycle of corona can only be broken through survey and screening by a large-scale active surveillance team in the state.

Dr Sharma had a 3-hour marathon video conference with senior officials of the state. He said that the department should be on alert mode with all necessary preparations to prevent the further spread of the virus in the state.

During this time, the minister assured the medical staff that for the prevention of coronavirus, they will be ensured complete security. The culprits will not be spared in case they are harassed.