30 pc of total COVID-19 cases in country linked to Tablighi Jamaat event: Health Ministry

Total positive cases of COVID-19 in India stands at 2,902 which includes 601 fresh patients.

“Till now we have found cases related to Tablighi Jamaat from 17 States. A total of 1,023 COVID-19 positive cases have been found to be epidemiologically linked to this event. Out of the total cases in the country, around 30 per cent are linked to one particular place,” Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, told media here during the daily briefing.

“The cases can be traced in Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Karnataka, Andaman and Nicobar, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Arunachal Pradesh,” added Aggarwal.

Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), said that through a massive effort, around 22,000 Tablighi Jamaat workers and their contacts have been quarantined.

The legal team of Tablighi Jamaat chief Maulana Saad Kandhalvi said on Saturday that it is working to provide details sought by the Delhi Police in the notice given to it over congregation held “in violation” of the restrictive orders in place to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi has emerged as a hotspot for COVID-19 after several positive cases from across India were linked to the gathering including deaths in Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Telangana.

An FIR was earlier registered against Tablighi Jamaat head Maulana Saad and others under the Epidemic Disease Act, 1897 in the national capital.

(ANI)