Three Nizamuddin Markaz attendees test positive in HP

DHARAMSHALA: Three people from Una district of Himachal Pradesh, who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in south Delhi, tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, taking the total number of cases in the state to six, additional chief secretary (health) RD Dhiman said.

The three patients originally hail from Mandi district. They were staying at a mosque in Amb sub-division of Una district after returning from Nizamuddin, said deputy commissioner Sandeep Kumar. They are being shifted to Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College (RPGMC), Tanda and authorities have started tracing their contacts. Dhiman said a total of 27 samples were tested in the state on Thursday of which 23 are negative. He said samples of the two suspected cases with Jamaat link in Kangra are negative. “The sample of another suspected case has failed and will be collected again. So far, as many as 270 samples have been tested in the state,” he said.

As many as 190 people from Himachal Pradesh, who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin in New Delhi, have been identified and quarantined in the state. While the authorities are on to trace their primary contacts.

The official figure states that 73 people are quarantined in Baddi, 35 each in Una and Sirmaur, 23 in Shimla, 10 each in Chamba and Kangra, and four in Mandi.

After the state government received a list over 840 Himachalis, who had travelled to south Delhi’s Nizamuddin area during Markaz Tablighi, an event which has emerged as a hotspot for the spread of novel coronavirus, a statewide campaign was launched on Wednesday to trace them.

An Active Case Finding (ACF) Campaign to detect virus infected people will be launched in Kangra, Hamirpur, Una and Chamba districts from Friday.

During the week-long door-todoor campaign, two-member teams will inquire people about their health and travel history. “Teams will guide the people about maintaining social distancing and using masks,” a government spokesperson said.