Palaniswami appeals to Delhi returnees to come forward
TN chief minister said they should voluntarily come forward considering the intensity of the spread of the virus which will affect not only them, but their family and a large number of people in the society
Tamil Nadu has formed special teams of officials to hunt down the over 1,000 people who attended a Muslim religious conference in Delhi early this month, with several of them carrying the Covid 19 infection.
The state found 57 people who returned from the Tablighi Jamaat conference in Delhi’s Nizamuddin Coronavirus positive late on Tuesday, suddenly raising the total number of affected to 124.
Officials said at least 77 of the 124 are returnees from Nizamuddin.
Official teams are seeking 616 persons who went missing after returning to Tamil Nadu from Delhi. State Health Secretary Beela Rajesh said 1,131 people from the state participated in the Delhi meet. Of them, 515 were identified, while the remaining 616 should come forward.
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswamy on Wednesday requested those who participated in the Nizamuddin event to voluntarily come forward, so that they can be tested and treated for Covid-19 if necessary.
“They should voluntarily come forward considering the intensity of the spread of the virus which will affect not only them, but their family and a large number of people in the society,” he said.
Palaniswami also said if there were symptoms among any participant at the Isha Foundation event held recent in Coimbatore in February, they would also be subjected to testing.
The Shivratri event was attended by hundreds of people from different countries.
The Isha Foundation issued a statement saying no one who attended the event is Covid 19-positive. Spiritual leader Sadhguru asserted that the Foundation had moved swiftly to check the disease.
They said: “Isha requested visitors from China, Japan, Singapore and other Covid-19 affected countries, not to travel to the Yoga Center as a precautionary measure both for travellers as well as the larger community.
“Even people who had been to the Covid-19 affected countries including transits and airport layovers, were requested not to visit the yoga center .”
Tamil Nadu police, meanwhile, on Tuesday night sealed the Muslim-dominated Melapalayam area in Tirunelveli district, after 22 of the 57 fresh novel coronavirus cases on Tuesday were traced to the locality. Officials said all the 22 Covid-19 positive men participated in the religious congregation at Nizamuddin despite the pandemic.
All the 22 patients were admitted to the isolation ward of Tirunelveli Government Medical College Hospital.
All the roads leading to Melapalayam were sealed and police erected barricades to restrict vehicular movement. People were strictly advised by the police not to come out of the house unless for essentials.
Transport Minister MR Vijayabhaskar told the media at Karur that a total of 29 people who returned from Nizamuddin have been admitted to the isolation ward in the Karur Government Medical College Hospital.
He said a 42-year-old resident of Kulithalai in Karur district is the first confirmed case of the pandemic in the district. The other admissions were said to be his local contacts.
Special teams visited various parts of the district and traced the 29 persons. All of them were quarantined and their swabs have been sent for analysis.
Three other patients have been put in the isolation ward in the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital in Tiruchirapalli and a government hospital in Chennai.
The Tablighi Jamath conference in Delhi saw participation by Islamic preachers from across Asia, including countries like Thailand, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan and China.
Palaniswami on Wednesday met Governor Banwarilal Purohit and submitted a report on the preventive measures taken by the government to prevent spread of the virus. Also announced a slew of measures, including extending payment deadline of crop loan dues of cooperative societies, housing co-operative societies, TN housing board and handloom co-operative societies till June 30.
In a statement, Palaniswami said that the repayment of these loans have been deferred by three months. He also said that property tax and water tax payable to the local bodies have been extended by three months up to June 30. Loan instalments to fishery and handloom co-operatives too have been deferred.