Coronavirus: A health worker in hazmat suit directs people at Delhi's Nizamuddin (AFP)
Over 300 people from Kerala attended a gathering organised by an Islamic sect in Delhi's Nizamuddin, which has turned out as a hotspot of the coronavirus, in two phases, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter. Chief Minister Pinrayi Vijayan has said 60 of these people are under observation.
"After the first phase between March 7 and 10, some 80 of them returned Kerala. Most of them have been tracked and details given to medical surveillance teams," a senior official involved in tracking them told NDTV, asking not to be named.
Some 150 people from Kerala who were part of the Nizamuddin gathering during the first phase are suspected to have dispersed to different parts of India for religious activities - including Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Uttarakhand. It is unclear from where did they arrive at that gathering, state officials told NDTV.
They said they have made a list of 100 people from Kerala who returned after the second phase of their meeting at Nizamuddin, which was held between March 18 and 20. The details of their locations are being checked.
"Their religious organisation heads and individuals in Kerala are cooperating with us. We have the required wherewithal to deal with these cases. Since the lockdown has been strongly enforced in the state, these people have largely been at their homes only," a senior officer said.
Kerala has confirmed 245 positive cases of COVID-19 till Tuesday, of which 215 have been hospitalised and 24 have recovered. Kasaragod, identified as a hotspot, has 99 confirmed cases, with over 7,000 under home quarantine.
Pathanamthitta, another hotspot, has five confirmed positive cases, with all having recovered. Kannur has been seeing a steady rise in cases with 48 positive cases.
The Tablighi Jamaat sect's chief cleric Maulana Saad and six others have been charged by the police. Thousands of Tablighi Jamaat members, including those from other countries, attended the gathering in March, disregarding all coronavirus warnings and precautions. Many then travelled to different states, widening the spread of the highly contagious virus.
Over 2,000 members have been removed from the Markaz Nizamuddin, the Tablighi headquarters, in the past three days.