Nizamuddin religious meet: 10 deaths, 300 hospitalizations

From March 13-15, a religious congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area may have caused the spread of novel coronavirus in a big way in India.  As per news reports, COVID-19 has spread among some of those who attended the meet. “Among those who attended the meet were some persons from Telangana. Of them, six died,” the Telangana Chief Minister’s Office revealed on Monday night.  

The country has woken up to the scale of the problem.  Some news reports say that a religious event was held on March 18 at the Nizamuddin mosque, which has been cordoned off since yesterday.  About 500 people are reported to have attended it.  Seven have already tested positive.  About 150 people are showing symptoms.  

“Contact-tracing of the attendees has become a headache for the authorities.  After the meet, the attendees travelled to several parts of the country, including Telangana and Andhra Pradesh,” a report says.  

So far, 10 deaths and 300 hospitalizations have been linked to the meet in Nizamuddin.

Meanwhile, India witnessed a terrible increase in the number of positive cases on Monday.  227 were reported in 24 hours, bringing the total to 1251 in India.