Coronavirus: 10 of Tabligh group reached Telangana on March 13, met hundreds for next 3 days

Two days later, on March 19, the government announced P-7 to P-14, all Indonesian nationals, as positive for COVID-19. On March 20, another two Indonesians in the group, P-18, and P-19, tested positive.

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On March 21 and 23, a 35-year-old man from Hyderabad and a 23-year-old man from Karimnagar who was in contact with the Indonesian group were declared P-20 and P-30. While the state government cordoned off certain localities of the district as red zones, the district collector advised the locals who came in contact with the Indonesians to undergo diagnosis at Karimnagar government hospital.

On the evening of March 23, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced a total, statewide lockdown until March 31. In Hyderabad, 11 religious leaders from Kyrgyzstan who were at the Nizamuddin Markaz, were taken into custody from Mallepally Markaz and quarantined on March 19. On April 1, the Mallepally Markaz was shut down “voluntarily”, and 10 members of the Tablighi Jamaat, including the group’s leaders, were taken to Chest hospital in the city for testing.

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“It’s a logistical nightmare to detect persons who came in close contact with the Indonesian national. We have already informed the Union Ministry of Health about this case so that contact tracing can be taken up from their side,” Health Minister Eatala Rajender had said at a press conference on March 17, after P5 was declared positive.

Though all 10 Indonesian preachers had tested positive by March 20, it was only on March 30 that the state government asked the public to come forward and inform the health department if they had participated in the Tablighi Jamaat meeting in Delhi. This was after six persons with a history of participation in the Nizamuddin Markaz meeting were declared dead in the state on March 30. Only the previous day, on March 29, Chief Minister Rao had told reporters that Telangana may become coronavirus-free by April 7 if no fresh cases were reported.

Several people who attended the congregation, held in Delhi’s Nizamuddin in mid-March, have tested positive for COVID-19 and five of them have died in Telangana. (Express photo by Praveen Khana)

When asked if there was a delay in sharing information with the Centre on the possibility of a COVID-19 cluster at Delhi’s Nizamuddin, State Health Minister Eatala Rajender told The Indian Express: “The Centre should have been more active as more and more people who returned from Delhi’s Markaz meeting were being tested positive in different states.”

Pressed on whether he thought the Centre had failed to react promptly, however, the minister said: “We cannot say that, and we should not say that. It is our collective responsibility and we should tackle it collectively.”

On Wednesday, the health minister said that all barring 160-odd people among the 1,030 who had travelled to Delhi to participate in the Tablighi Jamaat meeting have been identified. “There is some duplication of names, some might have stayed back in Delhi. All those who are traced here would be screened, and those with symptoms would be tested for the disease,” he said.

Police cordoned off the area amid the search for symptomatic patients. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)

The minister said Telangana “was the first state to detect coronavirus positive among those who participated in the Delhi Markaz meeting, and (had) informed the union government… We were the first to suggest stopping all flights including domestic flights. We were the first to lock down the state on March 23”.

He insisted there was no community transmission in the state — all those who have tested positive in the last three days have a recent history of visiting the Nizamuddin Markaz. While the number of positive cases is only expected to rise, the state remains committed to overcoming the crisis, he said.

Telangana has been criticised for not being forthcoming in sharing information about the situation in the state on a day-to-day basis. Medical bulletins have been irregular, and have included nothing other than a few details of patients’ numbers. Getting information on local travel details has been extremely difficult, and officials including the director of public health have been staying away from the media.

The state had a total of 77 active cases on March 31. Fourteen patients had recovered and had been referred to home quarantine. Around 10 others are waiting to be discharged.