Delhi authorities yet to ascertain contact history of 71 coronavirus patients

Amid a surge in COVID-19 cases and strong emphasis that Delhi is still in a stage of local transmission, latest health bulletin on Sunday showed that authorities are yet to ascertain how 71 people contracted the virus infection even as cases crossed the 500-mark on Sunday.

One more person died taking the toll to seven, while 58 new cases were reported in the city, as the total rose to 503 and 477 are still in hospital under treatment.

Of the total, 320 or 63.61 per cent were linked to Tablighi Jamaat's religious gathering in south Delhi's Nizamuddin in mid-March. Across India, around 30 per cent cases have links to Tablighi Jamaat followers or those who came in contact with them after they returned to their states.

At a time the focus is on Tablighi Jamaat, the number of cases unrelated to the Islamic missionary movement is also on the rise. On Sunday for the first time after testing of Tablighi Jamaat followers started, the number of those not linked to the event surpassed that of the Islamic movement's numbers. Of the 58 cases, 39 did not have any links to the movement.

An area of concern for health officials is the rising number of cases in which the authorities are yet to ascertain the contact history of the person. Among the total cases, 61 have foreign travel history, while 51 have contacts with those who had contracted COVID-19, besides the 320 linked to Tablighi Jamaat.

As on March 31, there were 18 such cases "under investigation" where the authorities could not ascertain how the person contracted the infection. This number has been steadily rising and five days later, this number now stands at 71.

An analysis of the health bulletins issued by the Delhi government showed that the number of such cases is on the rise since April 3. Also since April 2, the authorities were not able to ascertain facts about patients who were already on the list.

While on March 31, there were eight fresh cases where authorities were not able to track down the contact, taking the total to 18, the next day had nine new cases. However, on April 1, the total unknown cases were 19, according to the bulletin, as it appeared that authorities managed to track down the contact history of some of them.

On April 2, six new similar cases came, taking the total to 25. The next day, it was again six cases. On April 4, there were 15 such cases and on Sunday, there is no credible source for the patient getting COVID-19 in 25 cases.

Citing the Tablighi Jamaat case, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said that Delhi has not yet reached the stage of community spread.