Delhi's Nizamuddin becomes the biggest hotspot of Coronavirus in India

• Delhi's Nizamuddin has become the biggest hotspot of Coronavirus in India.
• Of the 10 cases reported in Andaman, nine are of individuals who were present at the event.
• In Uttar Pradesh 50 people have been placed under quarantine.
• The government has been able to track 125 people in Haryana and nine in Punjab who were present at the religious congregation.
• 50 positive cases of Coronavirus have emerged in Tamil Nadu with 501 people suspected to have attended the event and one dead.
• The intelligence department has tracked 45 of the attendees to Kerala.
• The congregation had at least 3,000 in attendance, including visitors from Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia.
• The Delhi government has deemed the religious gathering a criminal act and FIRS have been registered against the officials of Tablighi Jamaat.
• Police, paramilitary personnel, and drones are being used to monitor the area.
• Follow the comprehensive coverage of the Coronavirus pandemic in India on Business Insider India

Coronavirus had crossed India’s borders long before the nation went under lockdown and even before Prime Minister Narendra Modi tested the water with the Janata Curfew on March 22. However, what was unknown at the time was that it could make its way to a religious gathering and leave thousands uncertain about their fate.

Delhi's Markaz Tablighi Jamanth at Hazrat Nizamuddin is now the single biggest hotspot in the country where officials estimate over 3,000 were in attendance — some from countries like Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Indonesia where Coronavirus infections had already been reported.

According to reports, it has led to at least eight deaths and 117 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in India, across the country.

From Nizamuddin to the far flung corners of the country
The event passed all but unnoticed until a 65-year old man in Jammu and Kashmir passed away on March 26.

States in India are scrambling to figure out who attended the event and could have contracted the virus. On March 20, 10 Indonesians who attended the gathering had tested positive for Coroanvirus in Telangana. Ten days later, the Telangana government reported that six people who attended the congregation at Markaz Tablighi Jamath died from Covid-19. Around 194 people from the state attended the event with 15 testing positive so far.

In Karanataka, five people attended the event, of which one is dead due to Coronavirus.

Maharashtra, India's worst hit state as of April 1, reported that 109 people attended the event. Seven positive cases of Coronavirus have already emerged with one death.

In Delhi, 24 people have tested positive for the virus. In neighboring states, Uttar Pradesh has placed 50 people under quarantine in the Jaunpur district and 125 people have been tracked down in Haryana. In Punjab, nine people reportedly attended the religious congregation.

In Tamil Nadu, officials estimate that around 500 people from the state were present at the event. So far, 50 positive cases of Coronavirus have showed up in the state with one dead. As a result, 22 secondary cases have emerged in Salem.

According to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, 441 people have tested positive for symptoms of the infection in the city so far.

In Kerala, the intelligence department has tracked 45 people who were present at the event, according to Time Now. It is yet to be determined if any of them have been infected. Similarly in Assam, the government has tracked down 456 people who had gone to Delhi to attend the event at Hazrat Nizamuddin. In Odisha, only 3 people have been identified.

Of the ten people infected in Andaman, nine had attended the event, according to Abhijit Roy, deputy director of health in the state.

So far 1,034 people have been evacuated from the area and sent to various locations. Out of which, 344 have been admitted to hospitals and the rest have been committed to different quarantine centers. The buses sent to collect them had to make 34 round trips.


Finding the missing links
While it's easy to say that the gathering violated the lockdown parameters, the bigger question is why was nothing done about it. The Ministry of External Affairs issued the tourist visas for foreigners who wished to take part in the Tablighi Jamaat activities. The Delhi government and Delhi police were tasked with ensuring that their order should have been followed through. In fact, the Hazrat Nizamuddin Police Station is right next to the Nizamuddin Markaz.

Delhi government claims that the gathering was a criminal act. The congregation should have dispersed once the the directive prohibiting public gathering under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and the Delhi Epidemic Diseases COVID-19 Regulation, 2020 was in place.

A case has been registered against Maulana Saad, head of the Tablighi Jamaat, and others officials of the group of defying the lockdown.

"The lockdown was imposed imposed on March 24 and it was the duty of every owner and administrator of every hotel, guesthouse, hostel and similar establishment to maintain social distancing," said the government's statement.

According to Markaz officials, no new people were allowed to enter the building after the lockdown was announced and as per Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement, they stay put instead of risking movement. They assert that the gathering had already begun before either Kerjiwal or Modi's lockdown announcements.

The letter by Malauna Yusf on behalf of the Markaz mosque also pointed out that the Delhi government knew about the situation at Nizamuddin.

The Health Ministry had found that on March 21, there were 1,746 people at Markaz of which 216 were foreigners, according to PTI.


Nizamuddin Coronavirus timeline
The religious gathering begun on March 13 and Delhi's lockdown was only announced by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on March 16. However once the the announcement was made, the people at Nizammudin Markaz did not evacuate to implement social distancing.

It was on March 23, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Janata Curfew, that around 1,500 people finally left the premises. A day later, the nationwide lockdown was put into place for the next 21 days.

Adhering the the new regulations, the Nizamuddin Police reportedly asked the people who were still at the Markaz to leave on March 24. However, nearly 1,000 people continued to stay put despite the lockdown orders.

A day later, on March 25, a medical team finally visits the building — isolating those who are suspected of having Coronavirus in an empty hall within the Markaz. Only then do the Jamaat officials go the authorities to file an application for passes in order to vacate the area.

According to the deputy chairman of the SDMC standing committee, Rajpal Singh, the Markaz building is an unauthorised construction. He has asked the district commissioner of the central zone to seal the building.

According to the Delhi Police, they sent two notices, on March 23 and March 28, to the mosque committee asking them to vacate but were ignored.

There are over 20,000 residents in the area who may have been exposed to someone with Covid-19. In addition, the Nizamuddin Sufi shrine is a tourist attraction where people gather in large numbers — from all across the country and the world.

Sealing off Nizamuddin
Special teams have been deployed to track who came into contact with the deceased at the event, to test them for Coronavirus and ensure that they remain under quarantine until cleared. Drones are also being used to monitor the area around the Markaz building.

The Telangana government also offered free tests and treatment to anyone who was at the event, if they came forward.

To keep the infection from spreading, the entire area has been cordoned off by the police and paramilitary personnel. A screening camp has been established to keep track of any individual who exhibits symptoms of Coronavirus. A team of 54 workers and tankers has been deployed equipped with 30,000 litres of disinfectant.

The Delhi government has requested the Sports Authority of India to convert the Nehru Stadium into a quarantine centre to accomodate the hundreds of people who were present in Nizamuddin during the religious gathering.

See also:
Coronavirus cases in Kerala news and updates

Coronavirus cases in Tamil Nadu news and updates

Coronavirus cases in Haryana news and updates