COVID-19 Outbreak: Nizamuddin Cluster Could Be A Big Worry

Hundreds of people staying in the Nizamuddin area were shifted on Tuesday morning, in several buses to different hospitals for screening and Coronavirus testing. This follows reports that many people who attended a religious gathering organised by a major religious group, Tablighi Jamat, tested positive.

Thousands of people from various states are reported to have the religious gathering held at the Jamaat Markaz (Centre). The exact figures are being established. Media reports stated that 1500 people had attended the event from Tamil Nadu alone. The TN government is reported to have traced 980 people so far among those who attended the religious event. 16 of these are reportedly confirmed positive cases of COVID-19.

The Nizamuddin cluster could turn into a major source of worry for governments across the country. The Telangana government reported six deaths of people who attended the Nizamuddin religious gathering. It has appealed to individuals who attended the Delhi gathering to step forward so that their medical check-up and screening could be done.

It is believed that hundreds of people had attended the religious gathering in Nizamuddin from the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Both the state governments are actively involved in mapping out and tracing all the contacts of the individuals who are believed to have attended the Jamaat gathering.

One individual from Tumakuru in Karnataka who attended the Nizamuddin religious gathering is reported to have died of Coronavirus. A case of death in the state of Jammu and Kashmir has also been traced to the Nizamuddin event. In Mumbai, a group of 10 individuals from Philippines are reported to have tested positive for coronavirus. One of them has reportedly died of COVID-19.

The Delhi state government in a statement, is said to have described the Jamaat event as a gross act of negligence and a criminal act. The Arvind Kejriwal government is also reported to be carrying out an extensive mapping exercise.

While other hotspots of COVID-19 are emerging in the country in various parts, Nizamuddin could yet pose the biggest worry so far. Religious preachers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Krygystan and Turkey, are among some of the international attendees to the event.

Dilshad Garden in Delhi is also emerging as another hotspot while Noida and Meerut in Uttar Pradesh continued to be on the radar of health ministry officials, as also local governments.

Similarly, Kasaragod and Pathanamthitta in Kerala, Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, Bhilwara in Rajasthan and Ahmedabad in Gujarat are also being looked at closely as all of them appear to be hotspots of Coronavirus.