JOIN USCOVID-19: Over 450 from Assam attended Nizamuddin congregration, search on for quarantine, tests quickly
Assam health department went into a tizzy on Tuesday after it received lists of 456 people from the state, who had taken part in the religious congregation in West Delhi's Nizamuddin Dargah, as many of them already tested COVID-19 positive in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters here that at least seven of them had already returned and a search was launched to quickly trace them for tests and quarantine.
"Today morning we received a list from Delhi, where it was mentioned that 299 people were from Assam. Later we received another list of 157 persons. It is a cause of worry as many among those who had taken part in the congregation have been tested COVID-19 positive. I held a video-conference with the deputy commissioners and superintendent of police to find out how many of them have returned to the state already. Their swab samples will be collected and tested as early as possible to find out if they have already been infected or not. These people will be put into quarantine immediately to prevent further infection," Sarma said. "I want to appeal everyone to stay indoors during the lockdown till April 14 to prevent the spread of the virus," he said.
Assam has not reported a COVID-19 positive case so far but the health department fears that the dreaded virus could spread from over 56,000 people who had returned from outside the state. All these people have been put into home quarantine and the health workers are constantly keeping watch on their status.
The state had stopped nearly 1,000 migrant workers near Assam-Bengal borders and are being provided with food and quarantined. They would soon be shifted to a quarantine centre, which is being prepared inside two sports complexes in Guwahati.
Samples of more than 400 suspected people have been tested so far and all of them have been found to be negative.