One in India’s five Covid-19 patients is linked to Tablighi Jamaat and its Delhi event
New Delhi: The health authorities in India have confirmed nearly 400 Covid-19 patients who have a Tablighi Jamaat connection. With nearly 2,000 positive cases, one in India’s five confirmed coronavirus patients is linked to the Sunni organisation that is under the scanner for allegedly violating social distancing guidelines by convening a massive religious congregation in Delhi in early March.
The followers have been traced across ten states and UTs in India.
At a media briefing Thursday, the health ministry said different states and union territories have identified nearly 400 confirmed cases of Covid-19 with links to Tablighi Jamaat since finding out about a cluster in Telangana.
“The contacts of these patients are being identified and some are being tested which can lead to more positive cases to emerge from this cluster,” said Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare.
Most number of confirmed cases from Tamil Nadu
Nearly 9,000 people, including 1,306 foreigners, who are Tablighi Jamaat workers and their families, have now been quarantined.
In Delhi alone, there are over 2,000 members of the group. As many as 1,804 of them are now quarantined and 334 in hospital, said Punya Salila Srivastav, Joint Secretary, Home.
Among the states, the most number of confirmed cases are from Tamil Nadu (173). Other states with confirmed cases with links to Tablighi Jamaat are Delhi (47), Rajasthan (11), Andaman and Nicobar Islands (9), Puducherry (2), Jammu and Kashmir (22), Telangana (33), Andhra Pradesh (67) and Assam (16).
On Wednesday, at least 2,361 people were evacuated from Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz after 24 from the area tested positive for coronavirus Tuesday evening.
This large-scale evacuation at the Tablighi Jamaat headquarters took over 36 hours, and came after several people died from Covid-19 after attending the Delhi event from 13-15 March.
Two persons evacuated from Nizamuddin Markaz died due to coronavirus Thursday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said.
India reported 328 new Covid-19 cases and 12 deaths on 2 April, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 1,965 with 50 deaths. As many as 151 patients have recovered.
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