Two persons from the district who attended the Tablighi Jamaat conference at Nizamuddin on March 11 and 12 tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. While one is a 63-year-old person from Kooriyad near Vengara, the other is a 33-year-old from Chemmad.
Both of them were part of a 14-member group that went to Delhi on Amritsar Express (12483) from Kozhikode on March 5. They reached Nizamuddin on March 7 and stayed at a mosque near Banglewali Masjid or the Nizamuddin Markaz. The group went to Varanasi on March 9. Two of them returned home from Varanasi while the others stayed there till March 10. They returned to Nizamuddin on March 11 and stayed at the Markaz, the headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat.
They attended the Jamaat conference on March 11 and 12 and proceeded to Kerala on Sampark Kranti Express (12218) on March 13. They travelled in a sleeper class compartment and reached Kozhikode at 6 a.m. on March 15. While two members made their way home from Kozhikode, the remaining 10 proceeded to Parappanangadi on the Kannur-Alappuzha Executive Express at 7.40 a.m.
From Parappanangadi, the team hired a jeep and reached Malappuram town by 9 a.m. They stayed at Masjidul Huda at Malappuram.
They returned to their respective homes by bus at 10 a.m. on March 16. The persons from Kooriyad and Chemmad went home by different buses.
The authorities said both of them had close interactions with their family and friends in their respective regions.
The Kooriyad man was found to have visited mosques at Mannil Pilakkal Kunnummal and Chemmad. The man from Chemmad was found to have visited a market on Chemmad-Kozhikode Road.
The district police and health authorities reached out to them after an extensive search for those who had attended the Nizamuddin conference. They were taken to an isolation centre at the Government Taluk Hospital, Tirurangadi, on April 4 for collecting throat swab and blood samples. They were then placed in home quarantine.
They were found positive for COVID-19 on Monday, and were shifted to the Government Medical College Hospital at Manjeri. Their wives, children and close relatives who interacted with them were also shifted to the isolation ward at the medical college.
District authorities have warned all those who interacted with the two persons and those who had travelled along with them to remain in quarantine at their respective homes.
No one should directly reach any hospital if they showed any symptoms, said District Collector Jafer Malik. They should contact the control room at 0483 2737858, 2737857, 2733251, 2733252, 2733253.
