Ghaziabad health dept traces 14 residents who attended Tablighi Jamaat congregation

The chief medical officer (CMO) of the Ghaziabad health department said that the department will soon put the identified persons under isolation and is tracing those who might have come into their contact apart from others who attended the congregation.

The Ghaziabad health department officials on Tuesday said they have so far identified 14 persons in the district who had participated in the Tablighi Jamaat congregation earlier this month in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area.

Meanwhile, one more person was tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday in Ghaziabad taking the total number of virus-infected cases to eight. (Sakib Ali/HT file photo)

The chief medical officer (CMO) said the department will soon put the identified persons under isolation and is tracing those who might have come into their contact apart from others who attended the congregation.

“ So far we have identified fourteen persons who had attended the congregation at Nizamuddin. We are in touch with them, and they will soon be taken to isolation wards and their samples will be collected for testing. The majority of these people are from Masuri area, while some are from Muradnagar and Loni. Our teams are tracing others who came into their contact,” Dr NK Gupta, CMO, Ghaziabad, said.

“Some of the persons have shown symptoms of Covid-19. We are also tracing their contacts and fear that some of the identified persons might have offered Friday namaz at a mosque on March 20 and might have made direct or indirect contact with many people,” he added.

The Tablighi Jamaat’s headquarters in Nizamuddin has emerged as one of the biggest coronavirus disease hotspots in India with 24 people testing positive till Tuesday evening. In a digital address to the media, Delhi chief minister had said that 431 of over 1,500 persons evacuated from the Nizamuddin area till Tuesday had started showing Covid-19 like symptoms, including fever, cough, and shortness of breath and warned that this number could go up in the coming two or three days.

The Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday morning cut short his visit to Ghaziabad and flew to Lucknow where he held meeting with senior state officials after the incident came to light.

Avanish Awasthi, UP’s additional chief secretary (home), on Tuesday said the CM has directed officials to conduct searches in every district as there is a possibility that some people who attended the event at Nizamuddin might have entered the state.

“Over 157 people who attended the congregation are in the state and 95% of them have been tracked so far. The rest will be tracked by Tuesday evening. If they show any symptoms, their tests will be conducted. Searches for others are going on in every district. We appeal to the people who attended the congregation and have come to UP to make self-disclosures, and those around them should also come forward to reveal information about such people to the local administration,” Awasthi said during a press briefing at Lucknow.

Meanwhile, one more person was tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday in Ghaziabad taking the total number of virus-infected cases to eight.

“The man declared positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday was admitted to an isolation ward as a suspect case. His test report confirmed him positive for Covid-19. He has been shifted to the Covid-19 ward, The man had come in contact with a 30-year-old man from Shalimar Garden who is an employee of Noida-based fire safety solutions firm ‘Ceasefire’ from where a number of positive cases have been reported,” Dr Gupta said. Until now, 24 persons, who are directly or indirectly linked with the company, have tested positive for the virus.