UP Govt Quarantines 569 Covid-19 Suspects Including 218 Foreign Nationals Associated With Tablighi Jamaat

As many as 569 coronavirus suspects related directly or indirectly to the Tablighi Jamaat have been quarantined in Uttar Pradesh, while in Andhra Pradesh 111 people who attended the religious congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin have been identified.

According to UP government officials, the corona suspects were picked up on Wednesday (1 April), adding out of the 569, 218 are foreign nationals. The rest include the caretakers and other staff of mosques where Markaz Tablighi Jamaat followers were said to be in hiding.

UP government sources said all of them have been quarantined, but the samples of all of them have not yet been taken due to a shortage of testing units.

Sources say it will take two-three days before all these suspects get tested.

Meanwhile, during the video conferencing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy said that out of 132 cases in the state, 111 people are those who went to Tablighi Jamaat or their contacts.

In Rajasthan, 138 people related to the Tablighi Jamaat have been quarantined, out of which 13 have been tested positive for the Covid-19.

According to Rajasthan government officials, one person, a resident of Jhunjhunu district, who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in the national capital tested positive on Thursday.

On Wednesday, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said that Covid-19 cases may arise due to negligence and carelessness, in reference to the recent Markaz Nizamuddin episode in Delhi.

Speaking at a press briefing, Joint Secretary of the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said at least 386 new positive cases of novel coronavirus and three new deaths have been reported in the country, but it should not be looked at as a trend.

However, the number of cases might rise due to negligence and carelessness. On Thursday, a total of 1,965 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Indian while 50 people have died across the country.

Out of 1,965, 150 people have recovered.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)