Telangana says Tablighi Jamaat clusters worrying, asks all contacts to self-report

Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender said that in one case, 81 people had tested positive due to six families who returned from the event in Delhi.

Coronavirus Coronavirus

The number of COVID-19 cases continued to rise in Telangana with 50 people testing positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, taking the state's total tally to 700. The state government also said that 81 people had contracted the virus from the families of six people who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat meeting in Delhi's Nizamuddin last month.

Speaking to reporters in Hyderabad, Telangana Health Minister Eatala Rajender said, "81 people tested positive due to six families who returned from markaz. In Talab Katta area, 20 people from one family tested positive including small children from just one person who returned from the event."

The minister also urged all those who came in contact with anyone who returned from the meeting to come forward.

"There are some people who are contacts of Markaz returnees who are not coming forward. This is not right. We can't waste resources of the police and health department each time to identify everyone. Please come forward on your own," he said,

"You can see that we're giving free treatment and people are going home after recovery soon. Please come forward so that because of you again more people don't get affected and we can contain the virus soon," he added.

Stating that the containment zone in Karimnagar, where10 Indonesians belonging to the Tablighi Jamaat had tested positive, had worked very well, Rajender said that a similar strategy was being replicated in the limits of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC).

"There are still some violations of lockdown here (in Hyderabad), so we request the public to cooperate with us as we are doing everything for their own safety," the Health Minister said.

Of the 50 cases reported on Thursday, Eatala Rajender said that 16 of them were from Suryapet town.

In a press release, the GHMC said that 25 cases had been reported under its limits on Thursday.

"All 25 positive cases were shifted to Gandhi Hospital. Primary contacts of these cases are being traced and samples will be collected for testing. Primary contacts will be shifted to government quarantine centres for observation. If the primary contacts tests positive for COVID-19, then they will be shifted to Gandhi Hospital," the press release stated.

Eight Telangana districts including Hyderabad were categorised as hotspots with a large outbreak of COVID-19 cases, as per a list released by the Centre on Wednesday. The districts of Hyderabad, Nizamabad, Warangal Urban, Ranga Reddy, Jogulamba Gadwal, Medchal Malkajgiri, Karimnagar and Nirmal were part of the list.

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