The North 24-Parganas district administration sealed a part of Gontra-Jirakpur in Basirhat on Thursday after an employee of Calcutta Port Trust tested positive for Covid-19.

The 53-year-old man, who had been at his home for the past few days, had complained of high fever. After the health department came to know about his condition two days ago, it sent a team to collect swab samples for Covid-19 test. The report communicated to him on Wednesday night confirmed he was Covid-19 positive.

The patient was admitted to the Command Hospital in Alipore, Calcutta, on Thursday morning. His wife and daughter-in-law have been quarantined in Basirhat, while their residential building has been sealed. The administration has sealed the locality and closed down the adjacent market as a precautionary measure to arrest the spread of the disease.

An official of the district health department said: “We have started identifying over a dozen persons who came in close contact with the family.”