Coronavirus cases rise in Telangana, victims attended Nizamuddin Markaz
KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)
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Summary
Surveillance teams in Telangana have sprung into action to discover more cases that could have been present at the Markaz and shift them to hospitals.
India’s fight against COVID-19 has received a major setback after it emerged that a religious gathering or a Markaz organised by the Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin area of New Delhi was a coronavirus hotspot.
In the past two days, multiple COVID-19 positive cases have been reported in states like Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, while Jharkhand has seen its first coronavirus case.
A common link among the cases is that all those infected people had attended the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz in New Delhi. What’s worse is that in the aftermath of the event, Telangana government claimed that the state will be coronavirus-free by April 7.
Just hours after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced that his state would be coronavirus-free within a week, six COVID-19 positive patients succumbed in the state. “Six people from Telangana who attended a religious congregation at Markaz in Nizamuddin area of New Delhi from March 13 to 15 succumbed after they contracted coronavirus,” read a tweet on Telangana Chief Minister’s official handle.
According to the government, two patients died at Gandhi Hospital, while two others succumbed at Apollo Hospital and Global Hospital. Two fatalities were reported in Nizamabad and Gadwal each.
In the aftermath of what is clearly a healthcare crisis of worrying proportions, the state’s surveillance teams have sprung into action to discover more cases that could have been present at the Markaz and shift them to hospitals.
“Telangana Health Department requests those who attended the congregation at the Markaz to voluntarily report at hospitals,” Rao said on Twitter.
The big worry is that attendees of the Markaz could aid in the community spread of COVID-19 much like in South Korea, where a singular Patient 31 spread the deadly disease to thousands by way of clusters she came in contact with through social gatherings at church and restaurants.
No fears of community spread as yet
Healthcare workers in the state, however, believe there is no reason to fear community spread just as yet. “Patients who I have seen and who have shown symptoms of COVID-19 continue to be primary contacts of those who already have the illness,” said a Hyderabad-based doctor treating COVID-19 cases in the city, under the condition of anonymity.
“Community spread is when the source of the infection cannot be traced and multiple people end up getting sick, which hasn’t been the case yet,” he added.
The Union Health Ministry has shot down any fears over community spread thanks to the fallout of the Markaz. “We have a cluster containment strategy for hotspots, and special teams are conducting house-to-house searches for suspected patients,” said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry, while speaking to reporters on March 31.
The ministry confirmed that individual states are forming special teams to detect such clusters. “The Delhi government has already quarantined all symptomatic individuals from Nizamuddin area in New Delhi,” Agarwal added.
Nizamuddin attendees counted
The Home Ministry said it shared details with all states on March 21, in the aftermath of Telangana’s COVID-19-positive cases from the Markaz. In all, 1339 Tablighi Jamaat workers have been shifted to the Narela, Sultanpri and Bakkarwala quarantine facilities in Delhi. The ministry has said that police in various states would scrutinize visas of the Markaz’s foreign workers to take action in the event of any violations of visa rules.
Earlier today, Jharkhand reported its first case of COVID-19 — a Malaysian national who attended the Markaz. Assam reported its first case too, but it remains unclear whether the patient attended the Markaz.
Multiple states in the south have begun counting patients who returned from the Markaz.
Officials in Tamil Nadu’s health department have confirmed that 1,500 people from the state attended the Markaz, of which 1,130 returned while the remainder stayed back.
“Out of the 1,130 people who returned, we have identified 515 people across several districts,” said Tamil Nadu Health Secretary, Beela Rajesh, “We are requesting the people who attended the meeting in Delhi to come forward and declare yourselves so that we can help you and your family.”
Karnataka has also identified 50 attendees of the Markaz and quarantined 34 of these cases. In fact, the state’s latest Coronavirus fatality is that of a 65-year-old who attended the event.
Patients 5 and 6 in Tamil Nadu are Thai nationals who attended the Markaz in Delhi. On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu reported 57 new COVID-19-positive cases, 50 of whom attended the Markaz. This brings the grand total of Coronavirus cases in the state to 124, 80 of whom attended the Markaz, sparking off fears of community spread. However, with all cases traceable, that fear has been kept in check, even if only for the moment.
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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow