Gurugram patient booked for hiding he was at Tablighi meet, 5 more cases reported

Shubhra Pant & Ipsita Pati | TNN | Updated: Apr 6, 2020, 10:41 IST

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GURUGRAM: A 38-year-old man who attended the Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin in March and tested positive for Covid-19 three days ago was booked on Sunday for concealing details about his participation in the event.
The FIR against the man has been registered at the Sector 9A police station under IPC sections 188, 269 and 270 for unlawful or negligent act likely to spread infection of any disease dangerous to life. The punishment may be up to six months or a fine, or both. The FIR states that the man, who was in Nizamuddin on March 28, knew that members from Tablighi Jamaat had contracted the disease.

“The accused hid the information from the government on purpose, thereby putting others at risk,” said an officer at the Sector 9A police station, adding that action will be initiated against the patient after he has recovered.
On Sunday, five more cases linked to Tablighi Jamaat were reported — four Sri Lankan nationals in Mewat and an Indian in Gurugram. The city patient is an isolation ward at the Civil Hospital in Sector 10. The health department has collected samples of five people who came in direct contact with him.
The four patients have been admitted to the Shaheed Hasan Khan Mewati Government Medical College, which has now been declared a Covid-exclusive facility. Their samples were sent to PGI Rohtak after they showed symptoms over the weekend.
“After they tested positive, we moved them to the Mewat Medical College. They have been put in isolation and are receiving treatment,” Virender Singh, chief medical officer (CMO), Mewat, told TOI.
“We are aiming to complete testing for all those who had been a part of the Tablighi Jamaat by Sunday. In all, there are around 300 such people in the district,” he added.
On Saturday, said the CMO, another 111 samples were shared with PGI Rohtak for testing. “The total number of samples sent is 230 whereas the total number of samples that tested positive is eight,” confirmed a government official.
Official figures cite that a total of 1,193 persons have been put under surveillance in Mewat.
Gurugram count up by one
According to the health department, the latest Gurugram patient is a 27-year-old man, resident of ward no. 14, Pataudi, who was present at the religious meeting on March 18. He tested positive on Saturday.
The district health department has collected samples of his four family members and is assembling data on persons who had met with him after he returned from Delhi.
J S Puniya, the district’s chief medical officer, revealed that strict surveillance will be carried out in an effort to avoid community transmission. “We collected 90 samples today and we have increased the number of sample collection in the district to identify people with the virus and to curb the spread,” he said.
Meanwhile, the health department said that the 25 suspected cases which it had received from Pataudi and Nuh earlier this week have returned negative. All 25 had been present in Nizamuddin.
At present, Mewat has eight positive cases, seven of them with links to the Tablighi Jamaat event. Of these seven, four are Sri Lankan and three are from Kerala. The eighth is a local truck driver. The total number of active coronavirus cases in Gurugram now stands at 16.