Nationwide search for Tablighi COVID-19 suspects
Date :02-Apr-2020
NEW DELHI :
Over 6,000 people who attended Nizamuddin Tablighi Jamaat congregation identified 376 new COVID-19 cases recorded in last 24 hours, total 1,637 and death count 38, says Health Ministry
IN A sweeping nationwide hunt, authorities across States have identified more than 6,000 people who attended the Nizamuddin Tablighi Jamaat congregation, the biggest COVID-19 hotspot in India, as more than 375 fresh cases of infection emerged on Wednesday to take the tally to close to 1,900 with at least 55 deaths. More than 5,000 of those identified to have attended the congregation have been quarantined, including in hospitals across states, while efforts are on to trace another 2,000 including in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
The list includes foreigners as well, while some of those identified by the State authorities are yet to return from Delhi to their respective native places. Authorities attributed the big spike in the numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases largely to the Tablighi Jamaat, an orthodox Muslim society set up nearly 100 years ago by Deobandi Islamic scholar Maulana Muhammad Ilyas Khandhalawi as a religious reform movement and to spread the faith.
The latest Union Health Ministry update put the nationwide tally of the confirmed COVID-19 cases at 1,637, after 376 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours, and the death count at 38. But figures announced by different States and Union Territories totalled 1,894 with at least 55 deaths. The Ministry officials said cases have increased largely due to Tablighi Jamaat congregation, which took place in mid-March, and therefore technically it does not show a national trend.
They urged people to follow guidelines during lockdown period and avoid congregations, including religious gatherings. Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi were among the places to report a large number of new cases. In Delhi, the authorities said coronavirus cases have risen to 152, including 53 who attended the Nizamuddin congregation. The number in Maharashtra increased by 33 to 335 on Wednesday, including 30 in Mumbai alone. The tally can increase further as nearly 5,000 quarantined persons are in the high-risk category, according to the state government.
In Tamil Nadu, 110 people who returned from Tablighi Jamaat meet in Delhi have tested positive, taking the total cases in the State to 234. In Tamil Nandu, at least 515 persons have been identified for having attended the Nizamuddin meet, while at least 59 of them have been quarantined. Chief Minister K Palaniswami said 1,131 men have returned to the state of the about 1,500 people who went for the event. In Telangana, 50 of the 57 positive cases had attended the gathering, while the state authorities have identified and quarantined at least 840 people linked to the event.
The search is on for 160 others. In Delhi also, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said 2,361 people were evacuated from the place of the Nizamuddin congregation, out of which 617 have been admitted to hospitals for showing COVID-19 symptoms while the rest are quarantined. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said authorities are tracking mobile phones of people under quarantine to check their movement. The Centre on Wednesday also asked all States and Union Territories to launch on a “war footing” the contact tracing of all participants of the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin, which has emerged as the coronavirus hotspot. In Karnataka, at least 50 foreigners have been quarantined after they were found to have attended the congregation while 12 others are said to have left the country.
The state authorities have also identified 342 Indians who had attended the event, out of which nearly 200 have been quarantined. The Uttar Pradesh Government has also ordered 569 people to be quarantined for having attended the congregation, while Gujarat has so far quarantined at least 85 and a massive manhunt is underway as nearly 1,500 from the state have been found to have participated in the religious gathering. Gujarat High Court, separately, also issued notice to the central and the State Governments over the Nizamuddin congregation.
The Uttarakhand Government has also identified 26 such people, but said they were yet to return from Delhi. In Rajasthan, the Government officials said 538 persons could have travelled to various parts of the state after attending the event. At least 81 Tablighi Jamaat returnees are suspected to be in Bihar, out of which 30 have been identified, while Assam has reported four new confirmed cases of the deadly virus infection all of whom had attended the Tablighi Jamaat meet. Amid heightened efforts to contain the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra will also hold a video conference with all Chief Ministers on Thursday during which issues such as ways to contain the spread of COVID-19, movement of migrants and contact tracing of Tablighi Jamat participants are likely to come up for discussion, sources said.
NSA Doval intervened to get Markaz Nizamuddin vacated
NEW DELHI,
NATIONAL Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval had been in touch with representatives of the Jamaat in Nizamuddin to convince them to vacate the Markaz premises and get tested for COVID-19, claimed Government sources. More than 2,000 people attended the congregation there. “The NSA had to intervene as there was a large congregation going on there for several days and after his intervention, the Jamaat leaders also cooperated and vacated the place,” the sources said. Over the years, the NSA has established good terms with the Muslim leadership and his connections have come handy in the past also while trying to defuse communal tensions. This was evident during the recent Delhi riots, as well as when the tension started brewing up around the Ram Mandir temple, Ayodhya verdict by the Supreme Court, the sources said. A huge religious gathering was held between March 13-15 at Markaz building.