MHA: Shared details of foreign & Indian Tablighi Jamaat workers with states on March 21

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday said that it had shared details of foreign and Indian Tablighi Jamaat (TJ) workers in India with all states on March 21 after COVID-19 positive cases among these workers surfaced in Telangana, news agency ANI reported. It also said that by March 29, nearly 162 Tabhligi Jamaat workers were medically screened and shifted to quarantine facilities.

The MHA also said that so far, 1339 Tabligh Jamaat workers have been shifted to Narela, Sultanpuri and Bakkarwala quarantine facilities and to Delhi's LNJP (Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital), RGSS (Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital), GTB (Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital), DDU (Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital) and AllMS, Jhajjar.

READ | Timeline Of How Nizamuddin Markaz Led To Becoming Delhi's Potential COVID-19 Hotspot

Visa ban on Tablighi activists

Separately, MHA has asked the External Affairs Ministry (MEA) to seek details of accommodation in India, return ticket, finance of Tablighi activists who apply for a visa. The Centre on Tuesday banned tourist visas to Tablighi activists from abroad. News agency PTI reported officials saying those having tourist visas and promoting missionary activities will be treated as visa violators. No foreigner coming on a tourist visa will be allowed to conduct Tablighi activities.

The action follows reports of at least 60 people from Tamil Nadu (45) and Telangana (15) who attended the Nizamuddin Markaz testing positive for COVID-19 in a single day.

READ | Centre Bans Tourist Visas To Tablighi Activists From Abroad Following Nizamuddin Scare

New coronavirus hotspot

Delhi's Nizamuddin area has emerged as a Coronavirus hotspot following a religious congregation which was held at the Markaz mid-March, that was attended by thousands of people from across India and abroad. Several COVID-19 positive cases have been found among those who attended the gathering, with many even passing away. State governments from across India, from where people had attended the gathering and then returned, have now scrambled to track those attendees, put them under quarantine and also began testing them for COVID-19 infection.

(PTI Photo)

READ | Nizamuddin Markaz: Delhi Police Files FIR Against Maulana Saad, Others Of Tablighi Jamaat

READ | Tamil Nadu: 45 People Who Attended Nizamuddin Markaz Test Positive For Coronavirus