TN traces 110 new cases to Tabligh congregation, other states zero in, too

Earlier in the day, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in its first statement on the issue, said 154 COVID-19 cases across the country had been traced to the Delhi meet.

Addressing the daily briefing, Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said: “The primary reason for the jump in the number of cases is the fact that members of the Tablighi Jamaat roamed the country.

There have been 23 cases from Jammu and Kashmir, 20 from Telangana, 17 from Andhra Pradesh, 9 from Andaman and Nicobar, 65 from Tamil Nadu, 18 from Delhi and 2 from Puducherry.”

With 437 new cases on Wednesday — the highest single-day jump so far — the total number of cases detected across the country has touched 1,834 (143 recovered, 41 died).

In Chennai, the state health secretary said that following the government’s appeal, asking those who attended the Delhi congregation to self-report, many people turned up at hospitals.

Of the 110 new cases in Tamil Nadu, 28 are from Coimbatore, 20 from Theni and 17 from Dindigul. There are two foreign nationals — one from Myanmar and another from Indonesia.

In Andhra Pradesh, the new cases were reported from Guntur (20), Kadapa (15), Krishna (15), Prakasam (15), West Godavari (14), Visakhapatnam (11), East Godavari (9), Chitoor (6), Nellore (3), Anantapur (2), Kurnool (1).

“All the new cases in the state are linked to those who participated in the Tablighi Jamaat meeting. Officials are gathering information from the event organisers, police, Railways etc,” said State Minister Botsa Satyanarayana.

“Some of the infected are family members or close contacts of the individuals who attended the meeting,” said an official.

About 700 people from Andhra Pradesh are estimated to have attended the gathering. While Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has appealed to people to self-report, not many have come forward. Officials are still trying to trace over 80 who attended the meet.

In Telangana, all seven deaths in the state so far have been linked to the Delhi congregation. While 12 new cases were reported on Wednesday, taking the state’s total to 88, there is no official word on how many are linked to the meet.

Agarwal said the states have been told to intensify the contact tracing and surveillance drive, and more people who attended the congregation, as well as their contacts, are being tested.

“People are being shifted to isolation facilities and hospitals. In Delhi, there are 1,800 people in nine hospitals and quarantine facilities. I would like to emphasise that this is not a national trend. But any failure anywhere to follow the lockdown instructions is bound to lead to an increase in cases. Congregations should be avoided and social distancing norms should be followed 100 per cent,” he said.

Meanwhile, officials of the Northern Railways alleged “misbehaviour” by a group of 167 people linked to the Tablighi Jamaat meet, who have been quarantined at the Railway Loco Pilot training institute and a Railway Protection Force (RPF) barrack in the Capital.

“Occupants were unruly since morning and made unreasonable demand for food items. They misbehaved and abused staff at quarantine centre. Also they started spitting all over & on persons working/ attending to them including doctors. They also started roaming around the hostel building,” said Deepak Kumar, Chief Public Relations Officer, Northern Railway.

He said after they “apprised” the administration “to arrange the necessary security to control them or to shift them to any other suitable place”, some security personnel had been deployed.

Of the group, about 25 are from Bihar and Assam, while the rest are foreigners, mainly from Afghanistan, China, Saudi Arabia, Kyrgyzstan, Fiji Islands, Myanmar, Mali and the UK.

Meanwhile, the Centre has directed all the states and UTs to coordinate efforts on migrant workers, while ensuring that lockdown measures are followed. They have been asked to ensure food, water, medical supplies and sanitation arrangements at the relief centres/ quarantine facilities.

The Heath Ministry has also issued an advisory on proper quarantine and psychosocial measures for migrant workers.

“Under the orders of Hon’ble Supreme Court, states have been directed that trained counsellors and/ or community group leaders of all religions will visit and provide psychosocial support to the migrants in relief camps. As directed by Hon’ble Supreme Court, for technical queries, the Ministry of Health has provided an email (technicalquery.covid19@gov.in) which will provide authentic technical information to queries from institutions like AIIMS, New Delhi,” Agarwal said.

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has notified that all 24 classes of medical devices shall be regulated as drugs for quality control and price monitoring under the provisions of Drug (Price Control) Order, 2013, with effect from April 1, 2020, to ensure that manufacturers cap the price hike at 10%.