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Delhi Meet puts Tamil Nadu at 124 as 57 test +Ve
With 57 more having tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, total number of people who have contracted the virus in TN has shot up to 124.
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Health secretary Beela Rajesh said on Tuesday that 50 of the 57 who had tested positive had attended the religious conference in Delhi on March 13. Others include a 43-year-old man from Pozhichalur with a travel history to Thiruvananthapuram, a 28-year-old man from Tiruvannamalai having contact history with patient number 30, from Tiruvannamalai, besides 4 from Chennai and a 35-year-old man from Kanniyakumari. Among the 50 who attended the conference and tested positive, 22 are from Tirunelveli, 18 from Namakkal, 4 from Kanyakumari, 3 from Villupuram besides two from Madurai and one from Thoothukudi. “Out of the 1,500-odd people from Tamil Nadu who attended the conference in Delhi, 1,130 people have returned while the rest have stayed back. Among those who returned, 515 people have been identified across several districts and have been put under home quarantine,” Dr Beela Rajesh said.
Even as all out efforts are on to track the remaining 615 who returned from the conference, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, late on Tuesday, urged those who have attended the conference to ‘voluntarily reveal their identities to the respective District Administration so they could be treated at the earliest and spread of the the virus contained
The Health Secretary said that data on tracing the people who attended the conference was derived after an elaborated exercise of reconciling immigration data, along with the door-to-door surveillance data and police intelligence inputs
“We are taking a lot of measures to identify and track the people who attended the conference. We would request them to come forward and declare themselves in the interest of their family, the community and the State,” she said. So far, of the 124 who have tested positive for COVID-19, at least 80 are reported to have attended the conference, including some foreign nationals, who are currently being treated in various district hospitals. District health officials are also taking efforts to track down all those who have come in contact with those who have tested positive and quarantine them.
Earlier in the day, Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar held a video conference with the deans of government hospitals, deputy directors, joint directors and senior health officials of 13 districts to check on the health condition of COVID-19 patients and said they were all stable.
In Tamil Nadu, a total of 77,330 people who have either local or international travel history, have been
placed under home quarantine for 28 days. Currently, 81 asymptomatic passengers who have come from highly affected countries are under quarantine near airport while 630 are under hospital isolation, a release said. The State has also received approval for two more laboratories for the testing of samples, including Stanley Medical College and Hospital. Overall, TN has 17 laboratories for the testing of samples
Meanwhile, doctors from the World Health Organization,medical officers and state Health officials inspected the exclusive hospital for COVID-19 at Omandurar on Tuesday. WHO officials stated that Tamil Nadu is adequately equipped to handle the cases at its first dedicated Hospital
SPREADING TO DISTRICTS
2, who attended conference, test +ve in Madurai
Two returnees from the Delhi event have tested positive and are at Madurai GH. A total of 54 people of the 98 from Dindigul district have not returned. As of now, 34 have been quarantined at Dindigul GH and 5 in Palani GH. In Theni, 21 are at the isolation ward while in Ramanathapuram, 15 out of 28 have returned. In Thoothukudi, 5 were awaiting test results while in Tirunelveli, 23 are quarantined. Five from Kanniyakumari district tested positive. Among them, four attended the event.
T’malai patient worked in Chennai mall
One person who allegedly returned after attending the Delhi’s Tablighi Jamaat conference tested positive for coronavirus in Tiruvannamalai district. However, the person described as a 28-year-old male from Vettavalam tested positive on Monday night itself and was sent to the isolation ward at Tiruvannamalai Government Hospital. Sources also revealed that he was a Hindu and an employee of a popular shopping mall in Chennai.
16 isolated, 15 yet to reach hometown
Out of the 31 who went to Delhi, 16 have been isolated in Tirvarur. The remaining 15 are yet to reach their hometown. Meanwhile, a Tiruvarur town man who was among the group was taken to the GH after he showed symptoms of COVID-19. He has been admitted to the isolation ward and his blood samples have been taken.Similarly, 13 people who came from Myanmar have been quarantined at Kovilvenni area in Tiruvarur.
Results of over 100 awaited
The test results of 82 people, who attended the conference from Coimbatore are awaited, said District Collector K Rajamani. “Swab samples were taken from 41 people and sent for examination and others were also in the process of being tested. We are waiting for results,” he said. Similarly an official from from Tirupur district said 42 people had participated in the event. From among them, 25 have returned to Tirupur, while 10 others have stayed back in New Delhi. Police have been intimated about the remaining seven untraceable persons, the official added.
Search launched for attendees as cases spike pan India
Authorities launched a nationwide search on Tuesday for participants of the huge religious congregation held earlier this month in the national capital’s Nizamuddin area, which has become the new epicentre of the deadly virus pandemic amid fears that thousands present there could have carried the infection to the length and breadth of the country.
Thousands of participants of the Tablighi Jamaat held in mid-March in Nizamuddin, which also is home to a famous Dargah, are known to have 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 the Tablighi Jamaat.
Several fresh cases of infection were reported on Tuesday from Delhi, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir and Bihar, among other places, though a consolidated official tally was not announced in the Union Home ministry’s daily press briefing.
The Union Home Ministry said approximately 2,100 foreigners visited India for ‘tabligh’ activities this year, including those from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Kyrgyzstan. It also said that all state police have been asked to locate Indian Tabligh Jamaat workers from local coordinators, followed by their medical screening and quarantine. So far, 2137 such people have been identified and are being medically examined and quarantined, while more would be located, the Ministry
said. Sources said around 8,000 people from across the country as well as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia had attended a gathering.
‘Irresponsible’ behaviour, slams Kejriwal
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday said 1,548 people have been evacuated from Nizamuddin markaz (centre) here of which, 441 were hospitalised after they showed coronavirus symptoms
In a digital press conference, the Chief Minister said 1,107 people, who attended the religious congregation in Nizamudddin West, have been quarantined. He said that out of 97 cases of coronavirus in the city, 24 were those who took part in the congregation earlier this month. Kejriwal slammed the organisers of the religious gathering saying it was “highly irresponsible” on their part to hold such an event at a time when thousands have died in other countries due to the pandemic.
He said that his government has already written to Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal recommending the registration of an FIR against the organisers. Kejriwal further said any lapse in performance of the officers related to the Nizamuddin case will not be tolerated and strict action will be initiated.
Meanwhile, Delhi police on Tuesday booked the cleric, who led a huge religious congregation in Nizamuddin West earlier this month, for violating government orders on not organising public gatherings and maintaining social distance to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, official said. Police officers said Maulana Saad of the Nizamuddin centre has been booked under sections of Epidemic Disease Act and other sections of the Indian Penal Code for violating government orders on management of the markaz in relation to social, political or religious gathering.
Markaz Nizamuddin, the international headquarters of the Jamaat for nearly 100 years, has said when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the “Janta Curfew” on March 22, they discontinued ongoing
programmes but a large number of people were stuck there because of the closure of transport services.
THE CONFERENCE WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
- A conference of Islamic preachers belonging to the Tablighi Jamaat was held at a mosque in Nizamuddin in Delhi on March 8, 9 and 10. There was another gathering around March 20, just before the lockdown
- Hundreds had been staying in the 100-year-old mosque complex, which has a six-floor dormitory
- Tablighi members reportedly told the police about the congregation on March 24. At the time, there were around 1,200 people inside the mosque complex
- On March 26, two days into the national lockdown ordered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, people started gathering again at the mosque. There were close to 2,000 by the time the police found out
- In addition to Indians, there were around 1,000 or more Tablighi members from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Algeria, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,England, Fiji, France and Kuwait
- Of the attendees who returned, 6 people have died in Telangana. Ten more, who returned to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands,have tested positive. More than 100 people from Kashmir attended the gathering and amassive exercise is on to track them down. One man died in Srinagar
- Around 1500 people from across Tamil Nadu attended. Groups went from Tiruchy, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Erode, Pudukkottai and Nagapattinam
- The Thai nationals in TN who have tested positive were members of this group,and they visited mosques at Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Adirampattinam
- The lady doctor who treated these two Thai nationals tested positive. Her mother, maid and10-month-old baby also tested positive
- At a mosque in Kancheepuram,at least 16 people have been quarantined—10 preachers from Indonesia, four from Malaysia and two guides who accompanied them
- TN woke up to the crisis when a 54-year-old man from Madurai, referred to as patient 12, died on March 25. His wife and two sons tested positive
- On Tuesday, March 31, the mosque was sealed and 1,000 people moved out in buses are quarantined in the city. MHA also asked states, UTs to immediately quarantine, deport 2,000 foreign Jamaat activists in country
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