Tablighi Jamaat: 400 test +ve out of 9K quarantined

MHA blacklists 960 foreigners, present in India on tourist visas

NEW DELHI: The negligence of a selected few is proving detrimental even when a countrywide lockdown is in place. Out of the total 9,000 who have been quarantined after attending the Nizamuddin event, till now 400 people have been found COVID19 positive.

On the other hand, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has blacklisted 960 foreigners, present in India on tourist visas, for their involvement in Tablighi Jamaat activities.

In the present scenario, the positive cases of the Jamaat have been reported from nine states, while reports of other several members are awaited. Out of the total 9,000 quarantined; 1,306 are foreign nationals. While in Delhi, 1,804 members of the Tablighi Jamaat have been quarantined, out of which 334 have been hospitalised.

Meanwhile, after the Jamaat fiasco, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is contemplating a change in the testing protocol. The ICMR held a meeting on Thursday and the final decision would be taken on Friday.

According to data provided by the Union Ministry of Health, a total of 235 new cases have been reported from Wednesday 9 pm to Thursday 6 pm taking the total tally of positive cases to 2,069, out of which 1,860 are active, 156 have recovered and the number of deaths increased from 41 to 53.

While talking to reporters, Joint Secretary (MHA) Punya Salila Srivastava said: “So far 9,000 people who have come in contact with Tablighi Jamaat have been identified and quarantined. It also includes 1,306 foreigners. The Jamaat has about 2,000 workers in Delhi of which 250 are foreigners,” Srivastava said, adding that a manhunt has been launched to identify all the members who had attended the meeting.

Giving state-wise details of the infected Tablighi Jamaat members, Joint Secretary (Health) Luv Agarwal, said: “As of now 400 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported. Tamil Nadu reported the highest number of cases, wherein 173 Jamaat members were found Corona positive.”

“It has 22 cases in Jammu and Kashmir, 33 in Telangana, 67 in Andhra Pradesh, 9 in Andaman, 47 in Delhi, 16 in Assam, 11 in Rajasthan and two in Puducherry,” he said adding that test reports of several suspects are yet to be received and the number of infected members may increase further.