In the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak, Pakistan is facing a massive struggle in tracking infected people in the country after hundreds tested positive after attending a religious congregation earlier this month.



The Tablighi congregation (Ijtimah), held in the Raiwind area of Lahore, had over 2 lakh devotees in attendance from all corners of the country as well as from other countries. The event was held on March 11, 2020.



The five-day congregation was attended by at least 2,50,000 people, who left for their own places on March 13, after the event was cut short due to ongoing rains.



Only when the devotees who attended the congregation started testing positive, the authorities understood the gravity of the issue and started to track down the infected people.

Till now, hundreds of cases have been reported from all parts of Pakistan, where people, who had attended the congregation have returned to their homes.



As per Dr. Yasmin Rashid, Provincial Health Minister for Punjab province, majority of the cases reported in the province have been from the pilgrims who returned from Iran while the second-highest number of cases are from the Tableeghi congregation who not only tested positive but could have spread the virus in other areas.



In Islamabad, areas including Barah Kahu, Chak Shahzad and Shahzad Town have been completely sealed after dozens of people were tested positive of the virus, after returning from the Raiwind congregation.



As many Muslim foreigners also attended the congregation, at least two cases of Covid-19 were also reported from Gaza from people who had attended the event.