© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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Journalism of Courage
The number of COVID-19 positive cases in Andhra Pradesh rose from 111 to 132 overnight as 21 more cases were reported on Thursday morning. All the 21 positive cases since last night are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat meet in Delhi’s Markaz Nizamuddin, which has been emerged as a hotspot for the virus.
So far, the Andhra Pradesh Government has taken 1,800 samples so far out of which 132 tested positive while 1175 were negative. The results of 493 persons are still awaited. On Wednesday, the number of cases spiked with 67 people who attended the Markaz event tested positive. According to officials, 110 of the 132 positive cases related to the jamaat event. “A majority of them are those who attended the jamaat meeting and a few are their family members or those who came in close contact with them,” Health Minister A Krishna Srinivas said.
Several people from Andhra were screened on Wednesday after many who had attended the Jamaat meeting at Markaz Nizamuddin showed symptoms of COVID-19. Hundreds of teams had fanned out in the 13 districts searching for over 700 persons from Andhra who attended the meeting in mid-March.
The unexpected spurt in Corona positive cases pushed the state administration into overdrive to place all the suspects under quarantine while simultaneously treating the afflicted people, as fear lurked over the untraced possible carriers.
Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has appealed those who attended the Jamaat meeting and their contact persons to voluntarily come and take treatment. He has instructed the health department and police department to coordinate and identify the fellow travellers, test them, and shift to quarantine centers in case of any symptoms.
A nationwide manhunt is underway to trace the contacts linked to those who had attended the event in mid-March. The Indian Railways has also been roped in to look at the passenger lists and trace those who had left Delhi during that period. A police case has been registered against the administration of Markaz.
