india

Updated: Apr 01, 2020 12:34 IST

More than 2000 people were evacuated from the Tablighi Jamaat’s Markaz in Delhi’s Nizamuddin, which has emerged as the latest Covid-19 hotspot, in the past 36 hours, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said on Wednesday.

Manish Sisodia tweeted about the “intensive campaign” to clear the building as other states and Union territories scrambled to identify, trace and quarantine the thousands of attendees of the religious congregation in Nizamuddin early in March.

“In Nizamuddin’s Alami Markaz, the entire building was evacuated at four in the morning after a 36-hour intensive campaign. There were 2361 people present in this building. Of this, 617 have been admitted to hospitals and the rest to quarantine,” Manish Sisodia tweeted in Hindi.

“The medical staff, administration, police, DTC staff all worked together in this nearly 36-hour operation, putting their lives at risk. Heartfelt gratitude to all of them,” the deputy chief minister said in another tweet.

Also read: Markaz leadership resisted, then NSA Ajit Doval dropped by at 2am

Delhi government officials have said they have identified 1830 people from 19 states and Union territories who visited the congregation in Nizamuddin, which was held between March 15 and 17.

The state governments, however, said they suspected many more people, who were not registered with the sect, had visited the event.

They are trying to identify at least 3200 people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation. Hundreds of people have been put under quarantine and tested them for the dreaded infection in at least 11 states and Union territories.

Officials have confirmed these congregation members had tested positive in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu, and Jammu & Kashmir and that many test results were awaited.

Also read: ‘A Talibani crime, says Naqvi on Tablighi Jamaat’s Nizamuddin event

Six in Telangana and one in Kashmir, who attended the event, have died of Covid-19.

The number of Covid-19 cases in Delhi climbed to 121 on Wednesday and includes 24 people, who took part in a religious congregation at the Markaz in Nizamuddin earlier this month.