As the Tablighi Jamaat meeting in Delhi’s Nizamuddin emerges as an epicentre of the coronavirus spread in several parts of the country, the Kerala government is tracing the people who attended the meeting, and their primary contacts. The Intelligence Wing of the state police has identified around 270 people who attended the meeting.
Of them, 100 people had attended the first conference, held between March 8 and 12 according to several reports; 71 of them have been put on home quarantine while the rest didn’t return to Kerala. The remaining 170 attended the second meeting held between March18 to 20, and didn’t return to the state as the countrywide lockdown came into effect on March 25.
According to a report on Mathrubhumi, Kasaragod had the highest number of attendees from the state at 19. The number of people who attended the first congregation from various districts of the state is as follows: Thiruvananthapuram - 5; Kollam - 2; Pathanamthitta - 1; Alappuzha - 3; Kottayam - 5; Idukki - 4; Ernakulam - 2; Thrissur - 2; Palakkad - 2; Malappuram - 8; Wayanad - 2; Kozhikode - 3; and Kannur - 10.
The list of people has reportedly been handed over to the Health department.
Meanwhile, the Pathanamthitta district administration hasn’t yet traced the details of the Dr Shahid (name changed) who died in Delhi after attending the conference. He had gone on March 7 and died on March 24; his funeral was also held in Delhi. It’s reported that he died of fever but it’s not confirmed whether he had COVID-19. It has also not been confirmed whether he was cremated or buried.
“So far we have not been able to collect any information on him. Seven people who had gone to attend the conference from the district are under observation,” District Medical Officer AN Sheeja told TNM.