50% of Uttar Pradesh's 282 Covid-19 cases now linked to Tablighi Jamaat

Shailvee Sharda | TNN | Updated: Apr 6, 2020, 06:52 IST

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LUCKNOW: With 143 out of 282 coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh linked to Tablighi Jamaat, now every second Covid-19 patient in the state is either a Jamaat member who attended the Nizamuddin congregation in Delhi or his contact.
"The total number of coronavirus positive patients in UP touched 282. Over 50% of the cases in the state are related to the Tablighi Jamaat event held in March," said principal secretary, health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad on Sunday.

State surveillance officer Vikasendu Agarwal said: "As many as 25 fresh cases, including 20 Jamaat attendees, were reported in the past 24 hours. A 55-year-old person who died in Varanasi on Friday also tested positive for the infection, taking the total number of Covid-19 deaths in UP to three." Two earlier casualties were reported from Meerut and Basti.
Additional chief secretary, home, Awanish Awasthi said on Sunday that 1499 people with TJ connection had been spotted across the state and more than 1200 of them had been quarantined.
As many as 7 of the 20 Tabligi Jamaat attendees were reported in Lucknow.
‘Agra accounts for maximum 29 cases related to Tablighi Jamaat’
One of the seven persons, who belongs to Saharanpur, is undergoing treatment at Balrampur Hospital while the remaining six who had been kept at a quarantine facility a private college in Bakshi Ka Talab area have been shifted to Sadhamau Hospital. All these persons were declared Covid-19 positive by King George’s Medical University.
Director, Balrampur Hospital, Rajeev Lochan said: “The person at our hospital was a part of the group of 15 who were living in the Sadar area. Eleven of these persons had tested positive two days ago. This is the 12th case.”

Lucknow CMO, Dr Narendra Agarwal, said: “The ones quarantined at Sadhamau Hospital are also outsiders. Three of them hail from Assam, two from Rajasthan and one more from Saharanpur.”
“Agra accounts for the maximum 29 cases related to Tablighi Jamaat, followed by Ghaziabad where 14 such cases have been reported. Meerut and Saharanpur hold the third place with 13 cases each,” said Prasad.
Giving details about the situation in Agra, CMO Mukesh Vats said: “As many as 48 Covid-19 positive cases have been reported in Agra till now. Of these, eight persons have recovered completely which means that the total number of active cases in the district is 40. Of these 40, 29 are related to Tablighi Jamaat while two are their contacts.”
Agra also reported three cases without the Jamaat links on Sunday. “Two of the new cases are relatives of a previous positive case who returned on March 21 from Dubai. The third case is a TB positive patient with no travel history. All new patients have been admitted to the SN Medical College,” Vats added.
The total number of Tablighi-related cases reached 13 in Meerut with one new case. CMO Raj Kumar said: “The person – who is undergoing treatment in Kanpur --is a resident of Sarai Laldas locality of Meerut. The overall tally for the city reached 33.” CMO Kanpur, Ashok Kumar Shukla said: “The patient has been quarantined at Rama Medical College in Mandhana.”
Saharanpur also has 13 cases related to Jamaat. All of them are undergoing treatment in Lucknow -- 12 at Balrampur Hospital and one at Sadhamau Hospital. “All the cases of Saharanpur are Tablighi Jamaat related,” said a health officer in Saharanpur.
Shamli follows next with 11 TJ-related cases. Two fresh cases surfaced in Ghazipur taking the district total to five. Varanasi, however, saw a non-Jamaat case taking the district tally to seven.