Coronavirus: MHA asks states to trace Rohingyas who attended Tablighi Jamaat events

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked states to trace Rohingya Muslims who had attended religious congregations organised by Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi and other places fearing that they might have contracted COVID-19.

In a letter to states, the MHA said there was a need to start screening Rohingyas who attended these events, including in south Delhi's Nizamuddin, and those who came in contact with them.

Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths on April 17

Sources said the letter mentioned that Rohingya Muslims have attended such meetings in Haryana's Mewat and Nizamuddin. Those living in Hyderabad camps are learnt to have visited Mewat and Nizamuddin.

Some of the Rohingyas, who were living in Shaheen Bagh, had also gone for Tablighi Jamaat event in the capital in mid-March and had not returned to their camps.

Sources said the letter also mentions that the presence of Rohingya Muslims who attended these events were reported from Derabassi in Punjab as well as in Punjab.

The MHA has asked states to identify and screen these people and their contacts on a priority basis to ensure that COVID-19 does not further spread.

For latest updates on coronavirus outbreak, click here.

The mid-March religious gathering in Nizamuddin has been linked to a large number of COVID-19 cases after a large number of attendees returned to their home states. The possible link to Nizamuddin meeting emerged after over half-dozen persons who tested positive for COVID-19 in Andaman and Nicobar referred to them attending the event. Later, a large number of people who attended the meeting from Tamil Nadu and Telangana among other states tested positive.