New Delhi: Even as members of the Tablighi Jamaat who attended the meet at New Delhi’s Nizamuddin on March 13 are being traced and sent to quarantine, it was the information collected from coronavirus patients in Telangana that led to the discovery of what could be the biggest hotspot of the deadly pathogen in India.
According to information shared with Zee News by highly placed sources at the Health Ministry, on March 18, nine Indonesian nationals tested positive for the COVID-19 infection. While collecgting information from them for contact tracing they learnt about the Tablighi meet at the Nizamuddin markaz.
Subsequently, the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) shared this information with the Delhi government on March 19, and the a team from Delhi government went to the markaz on March 20, but they were not allowed to enter and information was hidden about the presence of others inside.
On March 21 and 22, four more people were found to be positive for coronavirus infection in Telangana. The Delhi Government again sent a team to visit the Markaz, but still they had no information about the huge crowd that had gathered inside.
On March 24, seven more people tested positive for coronavirus infection in Telangana who had links to the Nizamuddin Markaz. After this, the NCDC then formed a group on behalf of Public Health Foundation of India (PHI) to find out what is the situation inside the Markaz.
It was only then that the huge gathering was discovered.
Since then, about 9,000 Tablighi Jamaat members and their primary contacts have been quarantined in the country after the government undertook “massive efforts” as part of steps to check the spread of the novel coronavirus, a home ministry official said.
A number of foreign nationals had participated in the Tablighi Jamaat event, maximum from Indonesia, Bangladesh. Activists from over 40 countries had travelled to India to participate at the meet at Nizamuddin Markaz.
Tablighi Jamaat activists who were blacklisted and visas cancelled include 9 British, 4 American, 6 Chinese, 3 French nationals.
Taking strong action against Tablighi Jamaat, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on April 2 blacklisted 960 foreigners and canceled their tourist visas after they were found involved in activities related to the Jamat.
Legal action will be taken against these foreign nationals for violating the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946, and the Disaster Management Act, 2005, as directed by the MHA the cases will be filed the police departments of the respective state they were tested postive.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government led by Yogi Adityanath said on Friday said that female health staff and women police officials will no longer be engaged for medical service and security of the members of Islamic group Tablighi Jamaat, a day after staff nurses of Ghaziabad-based MMG District Hospital complaint of alleged misbehaviour by some of them, who were lodged in the isolation ward.
Source: Zee News