The government said on Monday that 25,500 local workers of Tablighi Jamaat and people who came in contact with them have been quarantined in an effort to rein in the coronavirus pandemic.
Last month, the Tablighi Jamaat group had organised a massive congregation at Delhi’s Nizamuddin area which has now emerged as a Covid-19 epicentre.
“We have quarantined 25000 local TJ (Tablighi Jamaat) workers as well as people who have come in contact with them. Apart from that, the five villages in Haryana where some of the TJ people had stayed have also been sealed and quarantined,” Punya Salila Srivastava, joint secretary in the home ministry said at the daily briefing.
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At least 1,445 cases out of a total 4,067 coronavirus cases in the country, have been linked to the Tablighi Jamaat event, the government said.
More than 1700 TJ members have been blacklisted so far.
“So far 2,083 foreign TJ members have been identified out of which 1,750 have been blacklisted. We are hopeful that with such measures we can enforce the lockdown and break the chain of transmission of Covid-19,” Srivastava said.
{{/usCountry}}“So far 2,083 foreign TJ members have been identified out of which 1,750 have been blacklisted. We are hopeful that with such measures we can enforce the lockdown and break the chain of transmission of Covid-19,” Srivastava said.
{{/usCountry}}Last week, the government cancelled visas of hundreds of Tablighi Jamaat members for their involvement in activities in violation of their visa conditions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The Union home ministry had also directed police chiefs of all States and Union Territories concerned and the Delhi Police to take necessary legal action against all such violators, on priority, under relevant sections of the Foreigners Act, 1946 and Disaster Management Act, 2005.