Logo

Logo

Delhi’s Nizamuddin emerges as COVID-19 hotspot after 7 die, 24 test positive, 860 quarantined; mosque sealed

Over 2,000 delegates, including from Indonesia and Malaysia, attended the Tabligh-e-Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin West from March 13-15, officials said as the south Delhi neighbourhood was virtually sealed following fears that some people may have contracted COVID-19.

Delhi’s Nizamuddin emerges as COVID-19 hotspot after 7 die, 24 test positive, 860 quarantined; mosque sealed

Central reserve police force (CRPF) patrol in a residential area during the nationwide lockdown as a preventative measure against the COVID-19 novel coronavirus in the New Delhi. (Photo: AFP)

Nizamuddin in Delhi has been identified as a hotspot now by the Delhi government after several people in the area showed symptoms of being infected with the novel Coronavirus following a religious prayer meeting in the locality earlier this month.

Twenty four people from the area tested positive and nearly 200 others showed symptoms of the disease on Monday when officials began evacuating the six-storey building of some 1,400 people who are believed to have been exposed to the virus.

With the help of the Health Department around 860 people have been shifted from Markaz building, in Nizamuddin to hospitals. Around 300 more people are yet to be evacuated, Delhi Police sources told ANI on Tuesday.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, the Markaz Nizamuddin – the Delhi headquarters of the Tablighi Jamaat — was sealed early today.

Over 2,000 delegates, including from Indonesia and Malaysia, attended the Tabligh-e-Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin West from March 13-15, officials said as the south Delhi neighbourhood was virtually sealed following fears that some people may have contracted COVID-19.

Six people from Telangana and one person from Srinagar who attended the religious congregation have died due to the novel Coronavirus, forcing the government to take people in the area to different hospitals for checkup.

Ten more people who returned to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have tested positive.

The gathering held in Markaz had reportedly violated lockdown conditions and the police has said that the religious congregation was organised without permission from authorities.

The Delhi Police on Monday night cordoned off the area as several people showed symptoms of being infected with the virus.

Around 300-400 people had attended a religious gathering at Markaz and 163 people from Nizamuddin, have been admitted to Lok Nayak Hospital Delhi for tests.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has reportedly ordered the registration of an FIR against a ‘maulana’ for leading the congregation in West Nizamuddin.

Meanwhile, 18 districts in Uttar Pradesh have been put on high alert after reports that people from these districts attended the Tablighi Jamaat.

India on Monday witnessed one of the sharpest spike in the number of novel Coronavirus as 227 people tested positive in 24 hours, taking the country’s total to 1,251 with 32 deaths. Delhi has recorded 87 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Advertisement