Odisha has joined the list of states actively looking for those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi's Nizamuddin, which has emerged as a hotspot of coronavirus transmission.
According to the Health Ministry, around 400 people, including those who attended the event last month and their primary contacts, have tested positive for the deadly virus across the country.
As early reports emerged of the Jamaat event-attendees testing positive in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir, the Odisha Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau on March 27 sent a list of Jamaat members from the state to the Chief Secretary to take "necessary precautions/measures". The mail had attached a list of the Jamaat members saying they visited the event in Delhi.
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Of the 22 persons including seven foreign nationals, who were traced as having come to Odisha after attending the congregation at Nizamuddin, 17 have tested negative for COVID-19 and all are quarantined in the state, a government official said on Thursday.
Among the returnees from Tablighi Jamaat congregation, so far samples of 17 persons tested negative, said Subroto Bagchi, Odisha Government spokesperson on COVID-19, according to PTI.
As per reports available so far, 22 persons including seven foreign nationals linked to Nizamuddin event have been traced in Odisha, an official in states Health and Family Welfare Department said, adding that all are now in the government quarantine facility.
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While the state government still does not have a clear idea about the number of people who went from Odisha to the religious congregation at Nizamuddin, a senior police officer told PTI that at least 37 people including seven from abroad have so far been traced having links with the Delhi event.
He said while 22 persons are quarantined in Odisha, 15 others have been kept under observation in Delhi.
The officer said the state government has engaged personnel in tracing all the people who attended the event at Nizamuddin, a COVID-19 hotspot in Delhi.
