Active COVID-19 cases in India at 1,238, death toll at 35
NEW DELHI : India reported the biggest single-day spike in new COVID-19 cases at 200 as the total tally of confirmed novel coronavirus cases crossed 1,300. Meanwhile, the death toll due to the deadly virus has jumped to 32.
On Wednesday, total Covid-19 cases in India increased to 23 in Bihar. As many as 43 new cases have been recorded in Andhra Pradesh, eight in Gujarat and five in Maharashtra. Two persons died in West Bengal, taking total deaths in the state to six, and one person died in Madhya Pradesh.
Whilst, the Union Health Ministry has said that the novel coronavirus is in the local transmission phase in India and has not yet reached the community transmission stage.the Supreme Court (SC) has warned that the fear and panic due to COVID-19 are fast becoming bigger problems than the contagion itself.
In Delhi, novel Coronavirus cases have risen to 120, according to the state’s health minister Satyender Jain. As many as 18 new cases were reported in Maharashtra today, including 16 in Mumbai and two in Pune. A doctor in Delhi, working at a Government hospital, has also tested positive.
Meanwhile, nationwide tracking of people who attended the Markaz in Nizamuddin, Delhi is on. According to Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia, as many as 617 people in Delhi, who were at Markaz in Nizamuddin, have shown Coronavirus symptoms.
“2,361 people were brought out from there (Markaz, Nizamuddin) out of which 617, who had symptoms have been taken to hospitals, others have been quarantined,”Sisodia was quoted as saying by ANI.
A FIR has been filed against seven people – Maulana Saad, Zeeshan, Mufti Shehzad, M Saifi, Younus, Mohammed Salman and Mohammed Ashraf. Mr Saad has been missing since March 28, when he was served notice by the police, news agency ANI reported.
The Home Ministry has told states to track down Tablighi members who travelled to various parts of the country after the two-day gathering on March 8-10. Fifty have tested positive in Tamil Nadu, 24 in Delhi, 21 in Telangana, 21 in Andhra Pradesh, 10 in Andamans, five in Assam, two in Puducherry and one Jammu and Kashmir after attending the gathering.
824 foreigners had also travelled to different states and their details had been shared with the police chiefs, the Home Ministry said.
According to government sources 2,137 members of Tabligh have been identified in different states and are being medically examined and quarantined. A search is on for members who returned to Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Andamans.
Six people have died in Telangana. A man who died in Srinagar had visited the Deoband seminary in UP. Ten more, who returned to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, have tested positive. 1,800 are quarantined in Andamans. More than 100 people from Kashmir attended the gathering and Andhra Pradesh is trying to trace 700 members.
The Tablighi Jamaat is an Islamic missionary movement set up in 1926, with members across the world. Similar events held in Malaysia and Pakistan in February-March have been linked to virus cases.
The gathering, which featured sermons, was attended by Tablighi members from Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Nepal, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and Saudi Arabia. Members had also come from Afghanistan, Algeria, Djibouti, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, England, Fiji, France and Kuwait.
300 foreigners who were on tourist visa and attended the religious event, face blacklisting. The government has also decided to not issue tourist visa to any foreigner who wishes to visit India and take part in Tablighi Jamaat activities, officials said.
On March 20, 10 members from Indonesia tested positive in Telangana. The police claim that they escorted many to the airport. But on March 26, two days into the national lockdown ordered by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they were back. There were close 2,000 by the time the police found out.
In a statement, Markaz Nizamuddin defended itself saying the event was cancelled when PM Modi announced the “Janata Curfew” for March 22. Members could not leave, it said, because trains were suddenly stopped. After that, it said, lockdowns ordered first by the Delhi government and then by the PM left the visitors stranded in the Markaz.
However, officials point out that long before the lockdowns, the Delhi government had called for suspending all gatherings, religious, cultural or social.
The Indian Railways, the joint secretary said that railways is preparing to set up 3.2 lakh isolation and quarantine beds by modifying 20,000 coaches, adding that modification of 5,000 coaches has already begun. These 5,000 coaches would be having the capacity to accommodate up to 80,000 beds. One coach is expected to have 16 beds for isolation.
“We have conducted 47,951 tests to date. There are 126 labs in ICMR network, the number of private labs that have been approved is 51,” said Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) R Ganga Ketkar.
“The states are arranging food and shelter for migrant workers. A total of 21,486 relief camps have been set up where 6,75,133 persons have been given shelter,” said Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary of the Home Ministry.
(With Agency Inputs ).
