In what is likely to set alarm bells ringing for the health authorities, the Haryana government on Thursday said five people who came to the state after attending the Tablighi Jamaat's congregation in New Delhi' last month have tested positive for coronavirus.
Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij said two of the infected patients were traced to Ambala while three in Palwal tested positive for coronavirus.
Later in the day, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar told Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a videoconferencing that the count of those who attended the Tablighi Jamaat's congregation and came to Haryana afterwards has shot up to 1,277.
He said the number also included 107 foreigners and the jamaat returnees were traced to five districts in the state.
About the foreigners, Khattar said their passports have been confiscated and FIRs registered for various violations, a state government statement said.
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He said samples of all 107 foreigners have been sent for testing and reports were awaited.
Vij said these foreigners were from Bangladesh, Malaysia, South Africa, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
He said a majority were on tourist visas. All had concealed information regarding their travel details within the country and action as per law is being contemplated against them, he said.
Asked if the foreigners will be deported, Vij, who is also Haryana's Home Minister, replied, "We cannot do so till they test negative."
All those who had been traced to the state so far are from outside Haryana, he said.
"We do not exactly know who all they have met. There is a possibility that some of them may have infected others who in turn unknowingly may be carriers," he said.
Asked how many of these could have entered the state after the lockdown, Vij said, "This information is being gathered. In every district, they have an in-charge and we are trying to gather more details."
Health teams are at their job after the Haryana Police traced the congregation attendees in several districts such as Ambala, Palwal, Gurgaon and Faridabad.
All 107 foreigners had been kept in isolation while samples of several others suspected cases have so far been sent for testing and all are being quarantined, Vij said.
When asked about the purpose of this group entering Haryana, Vij said after attending the congregation, they are assigned duties and sent to different places across India to preach.
"They stay in mosques, go to people's homes and hold meetings," the minister said.
The Tabligh-e-Jamaat's markaz (headquarters) in Nizamuddin West has emerged as a hotspot of coronavirus, following which a major area has been sealed and an FIR lodged against its cleric for violating government orders.
The Telangana government had said on Monday that six people who attended the religious congregation between March 13 and 15 died due to coronavirus.
Subsequently, authorities across the country swung into action to trace the contacts of those who went to the gathering, attended by hundreds of people, including from Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
The Delhi Police registered an FIR against Maulana Saad of the Nizamuddin centre under sections of Epidemic Disease Act and other sections of the Indian Penal Code for violating government orders on management of the markaz in relation to social, political or religious gathering.
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