New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry has identified the 45 people from Kerala who participated in the Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation held at the Nizamuddin centre in Delhi flouting the restrictions imposed in view of the COVID-19 outbreak.
They belong to seven districts of Kerala- while 14 hail from Pathanamthitta, eight are from Alappuzha, six from Kozhikode, five from Idukki, and four each from Palakkad, Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram.
Nizamuddin area 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.
In the national capital alone, at least 24 people who took part in the religious congregation have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, as he slammed the organisers for being "highly irresponsible" on their part to hold such an event at a time when thousands have died in other countries due to the pandemic.
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.
In last one month, at least 8,000 people, including foreigners visited the premises of the Markaz, and most of them either returned to their respective places or were in other Markaz facilities across the country, thereby having a link to some positive cases in those states, they said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has directed the officials concerned to initiate legal proceedings against the Markaz authorities for organizing the congregation in violation of the law.
However, Markaz authorities claim that participants at the congregation were forced to remain in Delhi as a travel ban was imposed in the country following the ‘Janata curfew’ and 21-day lock-down.