Nizamuddin Markaz has recently emerged as the Coronavirus hotspot with several of the attendees being tested positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus also known as COVID-19. In what could be termed as a massive effort undertaken by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in coordination with states, until now, as many as 9000 Tablighi Jamaat workers and their primary contacts have been traced and placed in quarantine across the country in view of the coronavirus infection. Out of these 9000 people, 1306 are foreign nationals and the rest are Indians.
Punya Salila Srivastava, a joint secretary in the Union Home Ministry, told reporters during a daily briefing that out of about 2000 such Tablighi Jamaat members in Delhi, 1804 have been shifted to quarantine centres while 334 symptomatic persons have been admitted to hospitals.
.@HMOIndia along with States and UTs launched a massive effort and identified around 9000 Tablighi Jamaat workers and their primary contacts and placed them in quarantine; 1306 of these are foreigners: @MoHFW_INDIA media briefing on #COVID19 #IndiaFightsCorona pic.twitter.com/cvh4cFPgZF
— PIB India 🇮🇳 #StayHome #StaySafe (@PIB_India) April 2, 2020
About 400 COVID-19 positive cases found whose epidemiological linkage can be traced to the Tablighi Jamaat cluster.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police Special Branch has identified and quarantined 275 foreign nationals, who have been holed up in various mosques after attending a Tablighi Jamaat congregation in the Nizamuddin area.
Similarly, the Uttar Pradesh police have, in as less than 48 hours, tracked down 292 foreign nationals, who were allegedly on different Jamaat trips in various cities in Uttar Pradesh. The foreign nationals were reportedly staying in various Mosques in different parts of the state.
According to a report by Times of India, out of these 292, 57 had attended the Tablighi Jammat event at Nizamuddin in Delhi while the rest were preaching at different places in the state.
On Wednesday, UP Police identified 218 foreign nationals, who had come to Uttar Pradesh at different stages on tourist visas but some of these foreigners joined the Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin Markaz.
Police have seized the passports of these foreigners and have got them quarantined. Along with this, they are being investigated. The Police have also filed an FIR against people who provided shelter to foreigners.
They also registered 23 FIRs against over 100 foreigners who had violated visa rules and participated in Tablighi Jamaat activities in the state. They said over 100 foreigners, who are at present under quarantine, have been booked under the Foreigners Act as they were indulging in religious activities.
The cases of COVID-19 in India has almost doubled in just four days. This sudden spike is attributed to the Nizamuddin Markaz cluster of Tablighi Jamaat in New Delhi, where thousands of people, including foreigners, gathered and stayed this month and fanned out in different parts of the country to carry out Chilla (proselytising) activities.
The attendees from the event are spread all over namely – Karnataka: 64 quarantined, Tamil Nadu: 981 of 1500 attendees traced – 45 tested positive, Telangana: 1300 attendees with 6 deaths and 15 positives, Andhra Pradesh: 626 of the 806 attendees traced (8 have tested positive), Andaman: 9 out of 10 positive cases attendees, UP 157 attendees of which 14 quarantined, Jammu & Kashmir has identified 6 attendees. All states are doing contact tracing and quarantining all attendees.
India’s total COVID-19 cases, as on April 2, 18:34 pm, stand at 1965 with 50 deaths.
