The district administration has identified six couples from Indonesia in Belagavi and quarantined them, after it was found that they had attended the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz in New Delhi between March 10 and 13.
Six evangelists and their wives had come to Belagavi after attending the Delhi meeting, to preach in villages. They arrived in Belagavi on March 16. They have preached at a mosque near the city and have not moved around, a COVID-19 squad officer said.
The men have been quarantined in a mosque and the women have been quarantined in a house in the old city in Belagavi.
“We are acting according to the Home Ministry’s advice to identify and quarantine the Markaz attendees,” said the officer. The Union Home Ministry had written to all States and Union Territories to “identify, screen and quarantine” foreign members of the Tablighi Jamaat organisation, and “we are doing that,” the officer said.
Abdul Azeez, a mufti of the Jame Masjid in Belagavi, said that none of the attendees of the Markaz, including the Indonesians, had shown any symptoms.
The district administration has also traced 62 persons who had attended the Markaz in New Delhi. They have been quarantined. Most of them have completed the quarantine period of 14 days. They have not shown any symptoms during preliminary tests. The throat swabs of 27 persons who have co-morbidity conditions, including diabetes, heart problems, blood pressure and breathing problems, have been sent for further tests.
