The Delhi-based headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin West has turned into a hotspot with a sudden outbreak of coronavirus cases that has alarmed health authorities. The Jamaat had held a congregation this month that was attended by followers from India and abroad. 9 Indians who attended were 6 from Telengana and one each in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and J&K have died due to the disease.

One foreign national of Philippines has died and 19 other foreigners, who are followers of this Islamic missionary movement, are tested positive for coronavirus across the country.

A senior official from the state health department, said that out of the 25 new cases of coronavirus reported on Monday, 18 people were from this seminary in Nizamuddin. The city’s total number of cases has reached to 97.

Almost 250 foreign nationals had arrived in Delhi in the 1st week of March to attend a religious congregation organized by the Jamaat and after that several of them travelled to different states. Several Indian followers had also joined them.

According to the sources more than 1,500 members of the group were still found inside the mosque out of them almost 300 were having fever, cough and difficulty in breathing. Hence, they were rushed to various public hospitals in Delhi for isolation and the area is put under a complete lockdown with police, health and municipal authorities who are trying to detect and limit the spread.

The headquarters of the Jamaat, Bangle Waali Masjid, is sealed and the remaining members are screened for coronavirus symptoms.

The Tablighi Jamaat tries to imitate the way Muslims used to live in the time of Prophet Muhammad. This was started in 1926 in Mewat province by Islamic scholar Maulana Muhammad Ilyas and followers are instructed to visit areas in groups and educate the locals about their responsibilities and role as a Muslim.

The foreign followers who attended the Jamaat were from Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. Many others were staying in mosques of other states after checking out of the Nizamuddin headquarters with local guides.

Government sources said that several of them who are to be screened for coronavirus might be potential carriers as they have come in contact with the infected people.

A group of 10 people from Mumbai had travelled to Delhi for the assembly and one of them was a preacher from Philippines, who died at Kasturba Hospital. Other Indian follower, a 65-year-old man from Jammu and Kashmir, also died last week.

Sources have informed that 85 preachers of the Jamaat are admitted in Lok Nayak Hospital whereas 6 others were confirmed positive on Sunday and are shifted to AIIMS, Jhajjar. 200 more people were admitted to Lok Nayak on Monday. Few others are admitted to Guru Tegh Bahadur and Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty hospitals.

An official said that the extent of spread of the coronavirus is this group is very difficult to evaluate at present. The government has put more than 500 people living in the area under observation and health teams are stationed over there to monitor movement of people staying in Nizamuddin West, a high-risk zone for coronavirus.

One more hotspot of the disease, linked to the Jamaat followers, is Tamil Nadu. The state has reported 38 new cases of coronavirus on Monday and several are related to the group. The Tamil Nadu state is trying to trace all the 980 Tamil Muslims who were a part in the congregation in New Delhi.

Many followers had travelled to UP and Telengana. On Monday, two people are tested positive in Telengana, who are family members of a person who was tested positive earlier. He had hosted a group of Indonesian preachers at Karimnagar on 14th March and among them one was the 1st to test positive at Gandhi hospital in Secunderabad.

Source: ET Healthworld