Assam government on Friday declared a Mosque in Guwahati as the state's first COVID-19 hotspot.
The Assam government on Friday declared a mosque in Guwahati as the state's first COVID-19 hotspot, hours after the state registered virus-linked death.
The Athgaon Kabarsthan Masjid, in the heart of Guwahati, was declared a containment zone after it was found that a meeting held there on March 12 included 8 people who had also attended the Tabhlighi Jamaat event in Delhi.
The meeting was attended by nearly 100 people and three of them have already tested positive for coronavirus.
"We have sealed the area and turned it into a containment zone. We have names of 58 people, (and) we have quarantined them. The rest will have to be quarantined, eight of them are people who returned from Markaz," state's Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
"Three people who attended the meeting at the Athgaon Masjib have tested positive. While two of them have returned from Tablighi Jamaat at the Markaz, another person who is from Dhubri contracted the virus at the Guwahati Masjid where the Tablighis were staying," Mr Sarma added.
Mr Sarma said that the government has placed an order for rapid test kits in the state.
"Rapid tests will be introduced. We will buy one lakh rapid test kits. The problem is we will get it on 22nd April as per suppliers, thus we have reached out to the centre as well," Mr Sarma said.
Assam has reported 29 coronavirus cases so far and one death.