The recent gathering of as many as 3,500 people at a religious conference at Nizamuddin in the national capital is threatening to turn the area into the biggest covid-19 hotspot in the country and could trigger a tide of infections in several states.

The central and state governments now face the challenge of pan-India contact tracing and containment as the people at the 13-15 March event have been exposed to those who have tested positive for covid-19.

Of the people who attended the event, 441 are in hospitals and 1,107 people have been taken to quarantine centres, according to the body that organized the conference.

The incident has led to a blame game with the Delhi government blaming the Centre for failing to act on time and the Union home ministry and Delhi police officials denying any lapses in law and order.

People who attended the conference, including 850 foreign visitors, remained at Nizamuddin after the event, despite a Delhi government prohibitory order on all gathering from 16 March, something that went unnoticed. “About 1,746 persons" were staying at the Nizamuddin markaz on 21 March, said the Union home ministry.

About 1,500 people went back to their states just before the nationwide lockdown was announced. However, the police began evacuating the remaining people from the premises only on 29 March after a preacher in Kashmir, who had attended the gathering, succumbed to the virus.

This has led to serious concerns about the spread of the virus, especially as people from abroad, including countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan had attended the event at the markaz, or headquarters, of the Tablighi Jamaat, a group of preachers who meet periodically in different cities.

“The event had attendees from as many as 15 countries. We have started door-to-door mapping and have sealed off the whole area. Those responsible will face charges of gross negligence because this has ramifications across the country," said a senior central government official, seeking anonymity.

“On 28 March, state police were advised to collect the names of Indian Tablighi Jamaat workers from the local coordinators, locate them on the ground, get them medically screened and quarantine them. So far, about 2,137 such persons have been identified in different states. They are being medically examined and quarantined. This process is still on and more such people would be identified and located," the Union home ministry said on Tuesday.

Telangana reported six deaths from among the event’s attendees, while Andhra Pradesh reported 17 fresh cases on Tuesday, of which seven people had travelled to Delhi for the event. More than 50 people who attended the event have been traced across Karnataka. The Tamil Nadu administration faces a stiff challenge with police stating that “at least 900 people from Tamil Nadu had been part of the congregation". The Jammu and Kashmir administration has launched a manhunt for 850 attendees who returned home.

Delhi police has now sealed the entire area where the congregation had assembled.

Yunus Y. Lasania in Hyderabad and Sharan Poovanna in Bengaluru contributed to this story.

Subscribe to Mint Newsletters * Enter a valid email * Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.

Share Via