Tripura Participants of Tablighi Jamaat Congregation Test Negative for COVID-19

Agartala, April 2, 2020:

Tripura attendees of Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz who have been kept in isolation in have tested negative for the coronavirus, Tripura Health Secretary Dr Debasish Basu said. However, the attendees are yet to be released and will undergo further tests to determine that they are indeed corona-free.

"Altogether, 72 persons including the family members of the attendees have been lodged into institutional quarantine last night. The samples were collected yesterday itself and as per the final reports that reached the health department this evening, all of them tested negative”, the Health Secretary said.

He also added that a small fraction of the returnees had been traced in the North Tripura district, a bordering area with Assam which had already reported a number of cases and their samples had been brought to Agartala for testing.

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"Not less than 10 to 12 persons are still to be tested who have been kept under strict home quarantine in North Tripura district", he told us, adding that none of them have exhibited any symptoms as of yet.

Those who have been tested would not be immediately released, he said adding that in some cases, due to low viral load people tested negative and were later found to be infected. "Thus, we have resolved to conduct repeated tests for the people who were in the hotspot in Nizamuddin. Once we are done with our tests, we will release them”, he informed.

Earlier, the Health department had successfully traced 26 people hailing from different parts of the state who had participated in the Tablighi Jamaat organized at Delhi’s Nizamuddin. Among the 26 persons who have been identified, 12 people who have been taken into custody from Agartala based Jame mosque hail from Assam, we have been further informed.

[Note: Assam has identified 16 positive cases within the last two days]

"12 of the total 26 persons hail from Assam. The others have mixed domicile background. Some people belong to Mumbai, Delhi and Tripura too. All of them have been lodged into an institutional quarantine at Bhagar Singh Yuva Awas located in the city”, said DSP DIB Pran Krishna Das.

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Sources in the police department said, “As soon as we got the information separate teams have been formed and engaged with the medical teams to identify and isolate the people who have visited the corona hotspot—the Jamaat at Delhi.”

Meanwhile, separate medical teams had been spotted conducting search operations in all the minority-dominated areas of the state. “People were lifted in medical vans from Chandrapur, Jay Nagar, Indrangar, Bitar Bon and Ganagil road in the city. Separate medical vans have been sent to the Sonamura and other such areas following the intelligence inputs” said sources.

Speaking to this reporter, one of the members of Jamiat Ulema Hind Tripura state branch said, “All the religious activities being performed in the mosques have been stopped and everyone is asked to practice the Namaz in their homes. The people who are identified in Tripura come here as part of Tabligh and get stranded due to the lockdown”.