Jamaat fallout: 154 new cases in a day
NEW DELHI: It seems the efforts of the Centre to contain the spread of Coronavirus have faced a huge setback on Wednesday after 154 people, who had come in contact with the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz, were reported COVID-19 positive.
The worst report has come from Tamil Nadu as the coastal state recorded 65 new fresh cases of COVID-19 due to the transit-related history of the Tablighi Jamaat people. Other states and Union Territories that witnessed an increase in the number of cases due to unregulated movement of the Tablighi Jamaat include Jammu & Kashmir (23), Telangana (20), Delhi (18), Andhra Pradesh (17), Andaman & Nicobar (9) and Puducherry (2).
According to Joint Secretary (Health) Lav Agarwal, the numbers have increased due to the movement of the Jamaat in different parts of the country. “Some more samples of Tablighi Jamaat contacts have been sent for the tests and report is awaited,” he said.
However, he maintained that the sudden spike in the number of positive cases wouldn’t be enough to understand the increasing trend in the country.
The Centre has directed all the states and UTS to launch on a “war footing” the contact tracing of all participants of the congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin that has emerged as the Coronavirus hotspot.
As it has risked the containment strategy, the Centre has directed the Chief Secretaries and DGPS to find all foreigners, who had participated in the Jamaat and initiate action for violation of visa conditions against them and the organisers of the event.
As per reports, more than 2,300 Tab
lighi Jamaat activists were found to be
living at the organisation’s headquarters at Nizamuddin Markaz and were evicted from the premises in the last three days. As many as 617 of them were hospitalised for showing COVID-19 symptoms while the rest have been placed under quarantine.
Meanwhile, Bihar police have identified 86 residents and 57 foreigners who had attended the Markaz at Nizamuddin.