647 COVID-19 +ve cases found linked to Tablighi congregation, says Govt
   Date :04-Apr-2020

gate of Lok Nayak Jai Pra
A medic wearing a protective suit as a preventive measure against coronavirus, stands outside the building gate of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan (LNJP) hospital in New Delhi on Friday. (PTI) 
 
NEW DELHI :
 
Coronavirus cases in India reach close to 2,900, toll reaches 82 
 
AS many as 647 COVID-19 positive cases found in 14 States in the last two days are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday. More than 380 new confirmed cases were announced by various States during the day, some are related to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said in a daily media briefing.
 
While more than 380 new confirmed cases were announced by various States during the day, taking the nationwide tally to close to 2,900 with at least 82 deaths, 207 patients have recovered. The joint secretary said that “647 positive cases of the coronavirus have been found in the last two days that are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, and these were reported from 14 States (and Union Territories) Andaman and Nicobar, Delhi, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh”.
 
“If we see the rise in cases in the last few days, it has primarily been due to an increase at a particular level,” Agarwal said in an apparent reference to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation. He said, because of lockdown and “our efforts to promote social distancing, cases were being reported but there was no sharp rise”. There are 182 labs in the country for COVID-19 diagnosis, out of which 130 are government labs, an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) official said.