Maharashtra government tracing citizens who attended Delhi congregation

Filipino who died in Navi Mumbai was at the event

Nagercoil: The house of a person, who attended the religious congregation at a mosque in Delhi's Nizamuddin area, being sanitised at Velladichivila near Nagercoil, Tuesday, March 31, 2020. 700 people who attended the congregation have been quarantined while around 335 people have been admitted to hospitals after 24 people were tested Covi-19 positive. (PTI Photo) (PTI31-03-2020_000239A)

The State government has initiated the process to track if anyone from the Tablighi Jamaat congregation held in Delhi mid-March had returned to Maharashtra. So far, only the Philippines national who died in Navi Mumbai is said to have attended the event.

Health Minister Rajesh Tope on Tuesday instructed the authorities to trace citizens of Maharashtra who visited the congregation.

Dr Anup Yadav, head of the Directorate of Health Services, confirmed that the 68-year-old Philippines national, who was staying at the mosque in Navi Mumbai, had attended the congregation in Delhi. He had tested positive on March 13 and died on the night of March 22 at the Hiranandani Hospital in Powai.

“Besides him, we have not found any other person who had attended the Delhi event. However, we have informed all the district authorities to keep looking for such travel history,” Dr. Yadav said. Though the Philippines national had tested positive for COVID-19, the State has not counted him among the fatalities from the virus as yet and his death is still under review.

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Tuesday 24 people who took part in the congregation have tested positive for the coronavirus.

State Minority Development Minister Nawab Malik said Tablighi Jamaat has some followers in Maharashtra. “After learning that some 100 people from Maharashtra attended the congregation, I have asked my officials to find out how many actually attended it and their current location.”

(With PTI inputs)