After flouting quarantine norms, Tablighi Jamaat attendees refuse COVID-19 test
New Delhi/IBNS: Even as the Centre and the state governments across India are trying to trace the remaining Tablighi Jamaat attendees in order to arrest the further rise of coronavirus cases in the country that shot up after several of them tested positive, media reports said many attendees quarantined in a Delhi hospital are objecting to the required medical testing.
A Times Now report said the quarantined attendees posed threats to the wellbeing of the hospital staff and the security personnel by refusing social distancing, sneezing and spitting all around the hospital premises. On Thursday, reports said, many of them are resisting against being tested for COVID-19.
At a time the idea of social distancing was embraced both by the Centre and the state governments, Tablighi Jamaat, an "orthodox" missionary, congregated around 3,000 people at Alami Markaz Banglewali Masjid in Nizamuddin here flouting all norms of self-isolation.
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Reports suggest around 2000-3000 preachers had congregated at the event of Tablighi Jamaat preachers in mid-March, just days after the Delhi government had banned the gatherings of 200 people at any place in the wake of the outbreak of Novel Coronavirus.
As a special measure to prevent the situation snowballing into a major health hazard, policemen have been deployed around the three hospital blocks where Tablighi Jamaat attendees have been quarantined, said a Times Now report.
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“We've 216 COVID-19 patients, out of which 188 belong to one group (attendees of Tablighi Jamaat event). We had received reports of 24 patients from the group out of which 23 tested positive. This is alarming,” Dr JC Passey, Medical Director of LNJPN Hospital, was quoted as saying by Times Now.
These people were admitted to hospital after attending a gathering at Alami Markaz Banglewali Masjid in Delhi's Nizamuddin which hosted visitors from Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan.
That the congregation had happened, came to light after a man died and 10 more tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the event in mid-March.
Following the death, people started worrying about infection spread from the gathering of Tablighi Jamaat preachers at the event.
According to news agency UNI, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had pitched in on the behest of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, after the head of Nizamuddin Markaz Maulana Saad refused entry of Delhi Police to get the mosque evacuated in the intervening night of March 28-29.
Doval then contacted Maulana Saad and convinced him to get the occupants tested for COVID19.
The Delhi Police have registered an FIR against Tablighi Jamaat sect chief cleric Maulana Saad and six others for flouting coronavirus warnings and hosting a congregation of 3000 people at Alami Markaz Banglewali Masjid in Delhi, which emerged as country's one of the hotspots of the COVID-19 outbreak.
According to reports, Maulana Saad is missing. He was last seen on Saturday when coronavirus cases related to the gathering started surfacing.
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