NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, APRIL 1
The official machineries of cental and state govenments’ have launched a massive hunt to trace the contacts of those participated in the Tablighi Nizamuddin congregation and isolate them, as it was emerged as a major hotspit of the coronavirus.
There are fears that thousands present there could have carried the infection to the length and breadth of the country. From March 1-15, over 2,000 delegates, including those from countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, attended a religious gathering organised by the Islamic organisation at Markaz in Delhi’s Nizamuddin.
They had returned to their homes in virtually every state, including Telangana, West Bengal, Karnataka and Gujarat. Many of these states have reported COVID-19 cases linked to this congregation. Seven deaths on Monday were reported in connection with COVID-19 spread from the congregation.
Several fresh cases of COVID-19 infection were reported on Tuesday from Delhi, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar, among other places, taking the nationwide tally well past 1,400 with at least 45 deaths, as per figures announced by government officials in different states.
But, a consolidated official COVID-19 tally announced later in the evening by the Union health ministry put the total number of confirmed cases at 1,397 and 35 deaths, marking an increase of 146 positive cases and three deaths since Monday night.
There were two in Punjab, and one in Maharashtra. However, this apparently did not include six deaths reported by Telangana government last night, all of who had attended the Nizamuddin congregation.
Tamil Nadu on Tuesday saw as many as 57 new COVID-19 cases, the highest spike in a single day so far and 50 of them had travelled to Delhi to attend the religious congregation. The aggregate number of virus cases stood at 124 in Tamil Nadu, with at least 77 of them having links to the congregation held in the national capital recently. Health Secretary Beela Rajesh said of the 50 cases, 45 had travelled to Delhi to participate in the religious meet at the national capital’s Nizamuddin West area.
The government also said efforts were afoot to ‘isolate’ all the participants of the conference from Tamil Nadu soon to stem the further spread of the contagion.
