Twenty-four people, who took part in a religious Nizamuddin congregation earlier this month, tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Monday. Over 2,000 delegates, including from Indonesia and Malaysia, attended the congregation from March 1-15. Many of those who attended then travelled to other parts of the country, including J&K. Telangana, Andra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andaman and Nicobar islands.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh government has confirmed that at least 369 people from Andhra Pradesh had attended the Nizamuddin event.
The Delhi Police has cordoned off a major area in Nizamuddin West where several people showed symptoms of the coronavirus after taking part in the Tabligh-e-Jamaat.
Close to 1,500 people had been staying at Markaz Nizamuddin, the Delhi headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat group. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said 700 people who attended this congregation have been quarantined. In addition, 1033 people have been evacuated so far - 334 of them have been sent to the hospital and 700 sent to quarantine centre.
Meanwhile, Markaz Nizamuddin said that it has not violated any provisions of law and offered its premises for setting up a quarantine facility. The Markaz statement referred to the directive of the Delhi government to take legal action against the Markaz administration.
"During this entire episode, Markaz Nizamuddin never violated any provision of law, and always tried to act with compassion and reason towards the visitors who came to Delhi from different states. It did not let them violate the medical guidelines by thronging ISBTs or roaming on streets," the statement said.
Also Read: 24 Nizamuddin congregation attendees found coronavirus positive; Telangana, Andhra, TN on high alert
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