6 Lakh Migrants in 21k Relief Camps; Spotlight Shifts to Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz

Media glare has been shifted to Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi, where a congregation earlier this month has come under the scanner, after several who attended the programme have been tested positive for the contagious coronavirus. 

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal confirmed that out of 1,548 people, who have been brought out of Markaz near Nizamuddin, 441 were symptomatic, according to news agency ANI. They have been shifted to hospitals and their tests are being conducted. Others who did not show symptoms have been sent to quarantine, he added.

The Ministry of Home Affairs too issued a statement saying that as on March 21, there were about 1,746 people staying in Hazrat Nizamuddin Markaz, of which 216 were foreigners and 1530 were Indians. In a separate statement the ministry said, 1339 Tablighi activists have been quarantined at Narela, Sultanpuri, Bakkarwala facilities and also at some hospitals including AllMS, Jhajjar.

The statements come in the wake of reports of those who have attended the the mosque, Alami Markaz Banglewali Masjid, the headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat, earlier this month having been tested positive for the coronavirus in different parts of the country.

As many as 24 of those were tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday morning in Delhi while six others deaths were recorded in Telangana, all of whom reportedly had attended the gathering at New Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz from March 13 to 16.

While Kejriwal said that Delhi government had written to the LG Anil Baijal to register an FIR in connection with Nizamuddin congregation, according to PTI, representatives of the Markaz, in a press note on Tuesday, said they had been in touch with officials in the area regarding the situation since the past week, according to Indian Express.

Meanwhile, the government has told the Supreme Court that there is no migrant worker on the road, a day after the SC sought a status report from the Centre on the measures taken to prevent the exodus in wake of 21-day lockdown, according to an India Today report.

Punya Salila Srivastava Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, informed on Tuesday that over 21,000 relief camps are operational in various states and Union Territories, where more than 6.6 lakh people are sheltered.

With over 1,200 cases of COVID-19 in the country, the Health ministry official on Tuesday’s daily briefing confirmed that the number of hotspots in the country has increased.

In its bid to contain the spread of the virus, the Health ministry informed that its is using cluster containment strategies and doing rigorous contact tracing in COVID-19 hotspots in the country.