Tablighi Jamaat’s Delhi headquarter evacuated, 24 coronavirus positive cases among evacuees

NEW DELHI: Religious Islamic outfit Tablighi Jamaat`s international headquarters in the Nizamuddin locality in southwest Delhi, where around 1,400 persons were stuck in the wake of a nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, has been evacuated on Tuesday (March 31, 2020).

At least 24 coronavirus positive cases have been confirmed among those evacuated by the authorities so far. 

This has been confirmed by Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain, who said on Tuesday that 24 people have been found corona positive in the Nizamuddin Markaz that has turned into ground zero of the new cases spiralling out of control following an ijtima (religious congregation) in mid-March.

Giving details of the case reported in Nizamuddin, Jain said that the government is not certain of the numbers but it is estimated that close to 1,500-1,700 people had assembled at the Markaz building.

The Delhi Health Minister said that 1,033 people have been evacuated so far of which 334 have been sent to hospital and 700 have been sent to the quarantine centre. Jain confirmed that 24 cases have been found to be positive for coronavirus.

The Markaz, also known as Banglewali Masjid, is a six-storey building complex that can house up to 2,000 people. It shares its wall with the Nizamuddin police station and is adjacent to the famous shrine of Khwaja Nizamuddin Auliya.

Beginning March 13, there was meeting held here with people from Kashmir to Andaman islands attending it, besides Saudis, Thais, Indonesians, that has seen already six alone die in Telangana after their return.

Earlier, a high-level meeting was held at the residence of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over the situation pertaining to the coronavirus spread in the Markaz building, 24 hours after the news of the Tablighi spread like wildfire.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Health Minister Satyendra Jain and other officials were present in the meeting.

Delhi Police, with the help of the Health Department had earlier shifted around 800 people from the Markaz building in Nizamuddin to various hospitals.

Meanwhile, intense sanitization is also underway in the Nizamuddin locality. The Jawaharlal Nehru stadium is also being prepared as a contingency plan for creating capacity for isolation.

The Nizamuddin Dargah has clarified that it has no connection with the Tableghi Jamat Markaz of Nizamuddin. The dargah had stopped gatherings in line with advisories during second week of March. The Markaz is half a kilometre away from the dargah.