Fresh hotspot in Delhi's Nizamuddin : Tracing the participants
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 02 2020 -

As professionals engaged in the business of disseminating information to the public, it is getting more and more tough to keep up with the latest statistics on the number of infections and deaths due to COVID-19, at least in India.

And so it stands that while the report on the number of infection stood at 1397 and 35 deaths at about 4 pm of April 1, 2020, the figure was updated to 1637 cases and 38 deaths barely 60 minutes later.

A clear sign that the virus is spreading and from Wuhan in China to Lombardy in Italy, to the United States, Spain, Iran and other countries there’s every possibility that India could well become the next primary spot and this is what is extremely worrying.

More than obvious that coronavirus and the disease it causes COVID-19 can hit anyone anywhere.

This is where the question of how well prepared are the different countries to tackle the worst case scenario becomes important.

It is amid this reality that India is today reeling under the report that Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi’s Nizamuddin has turned into a hotpot following a religious congegration hosted there earlier this month.

As on March 31, out of the total 25 new cases of COVID-19 reported from Delhi, 18 were from the seminary hosted by the Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin.

Making things more worrisome is the point that out of the many who attended, a good number of the people had left the seminary to mingle with others in different parts of the country.

Adding more to the sense of anxiety is the report that 10 deaths due to COVID-19 across the country have been linked to the seminary at Nizamuddin.

Manipur too has a sizeable number of people who profess the Islam religion and not surprisingly it has come to light that at least 14 from the State did take part in the religious congegration.

Till March 31, ten of the 14 people who attended the seminary have been traced but the whereabouts of the remaining four could not be confirmed.

This is what is worrying.

The only thing is to hope that the Government succeeds in tracing the remaining four persons or they voluntarily come forward and submit themselves to the needed quarantine.

It is also equally disturbing to note that three of the persons who attended the seminary have been admitted to JNIMS with fever, as on March 31.

One only hopes that the fever reported is not connected with COVID-19.

On the other hand it is heartening to learn that so far none of the quarantined have exhibited any sort of symptoms in the first medical examination.

Significant to note too that the 14 people returned to Imphal on March 13 and March 19, so the 14 days window period generally given to people who have been exposed to the virus is almost over.

The apprehension is still there and while it is a given that the countrywide total shut down was yet to be enforced when the seminary was held during mid-March, the apprehension over COVID-19 had already gripped the entire country and holding a seminary on such a scale was not called for.