Covid-19 cases surge in India owing to Tableeghi Jamaat congregation held in Delhi
The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, India has said that the country recorded 386 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of infected cases to 1,637.
The Ministry also clarified that the recent surge is not a national trend but an outcome of Tableeghi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin West in Delhi. There were more than 3,400 people at the congregation. Half of them had already left for their respective places in different parts of the country by the time authorities in Delhi evacuated 1,548 people from Markaz (centre) on March 31, 2020.
Owing to this, the spread of the virus has gained momentum. The total number of (COVID-19) cases in Maharashtra has surged to 335. Tamil Nadu also recorded 110 cases today.
As many as 250 people have been identified in Maharashtra who attended the Tableeghi Jamaat event in Delhi. This includes 50 foreign nationals detained and quarantined in Ahmednagar and Thane. The Chief Minister of West Bengal – Mamata Banerjee also informed that 71 people of her State who attended the congregation in Delhi, have been identified. 54 of them have been sent for quarantine. 60 people from Kerala, who also attended the congregation have been sent to quarantine. All the new 110 cases in Tamil Nadu have a history of attending the Jamaat in Delhi.
In Haryana, 503 people who attended the Tableeghi Jamaat congregation have been identified, including 72 foreigners. In U.P., 569 attendees of the congregation have been identified and have been sent to quarantine. This includes 218 foreign nationals also.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of Delhi – Arvind Kejriwal said if a person who is attending the COVID-19 patient losses his life, his family would be given a sum of Rs. 1 crore as a respect to their service.
Taking it to twitter, he said, “Every precaution will be taken to protect our medical staff dealing with #COVID19 patients but despite that if anything untoward happens to them, we will take care of their families.”
His another tweet read, “If anyone loses their life while serving any #COVID19 patient, be it sanitation workers, doctors or nurses or any other staff, temporary or permanent, from private or government sector, their family will be given Rs 1 crore as our mark of respect for their service.”
The Government is focusing its attention on 10 hotspots across the country in its effort to control the spread of COVID-19. In Delhi, Nizamuddin West and Dilshad Garden have been declared as hotspots. Bhilwara in Rajasthan is also a hotspot. In Uttar Pradesh (U.P.), Noida and Meerut are the hotspots. In Maharashtra, Mumbai and Pune have been declared as hotspot. Ahmednagar in Gujarat and Kasaragod and Pathanamthitta in Kerala have also been declared as hotspot.
Amongst other developments, a 56-year old male from Dharavi in Mumbai, Asia’s largest slum, has tested positive for COVID-19. He has been sent to Sion Hospital and his family members have been put on quarantine. The authorities have sealed the building where he resides and have started providing food and other necessities to the residents as they can’t come out of the building. Spread over 613 acres, Dharavi is a densely populated slum with over 15 lakh people.
