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30 pc of COVID-19 cases in country linked to Tablighi Jamaat

By The Assam Tribune

NEW DELHI, April 4 - As many as 1,023 COVID-19 positive cases found in 17 States have been traced to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday, underlining that about 30 per cent of the total novel coronavirus cases in the country are linked to �one particular place�.

Joint Secretary in the ministry Lav Agarwal said at the daily media briefing that the rate of doubling of COVID-19 cases in India is pretty less as compared to other countries.

He said there has been a rise of 601 COVID-19 positive cases since Friday. The total number of novel coronavirus cases is 2,902 in the country, Agarwal added.

Meanwhile, according to Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary in the Union home ministry, nearly 22,000 Tablighi Jamaat members and their primary contacts have so far been quarantined across the country.

Srivastava added that the Union government is undertaking a �massive efforts� in coordination with States to trace the Jamaat members and their contacts to contain the spread of COVID-19.

All issues related to the ongoing lockdown are being monitored by a 24x7 control room of the Ministry of Home Affairs here, she said, adding that about 200 personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Central Armed Police Forces are linked to it on the ground level.

Giving the age profile of the cases reported so far, Agarwal said 8.61 per cent of the cases are in the age group of 0-20 years, 41.88 per cent between 21 and 40 years, 32.82 per cent between 41 and 60 years and 16.69 per cent are above 60 years of age.

The States and Union Territories from where the cases have been reported are Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar pradesh, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Agarwal said.

�Rigorous contact tracing is on across the 17 States which have reported cases related to Tablighi Jamaat congregation,� the health ministry official said. He said that �around 30 per cent of the total cases so far are linked to one particular place where we could not sort of understand it and manage it.�

The Tablighi Jaamat congregation took place earlier last month in Delhi�s West Nizamuddin area, which has turned into a COVID-19 hotspot. � PTI

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