1203 people of Tablighi Jamaat identified, 897 tested
228 passports seized, 296 foreign nationals identified
Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi during press briefing 
Principal Secretary (Medical and Health) Amit Mohan Prasad
Lucknow, April 03: So far, 1,203 people have been identified who attended the Tablighi Jamaat meeting in Nizamuddin in Delhi, out of which 897 have been tested for COVID-19. Action has been taken against identified 296 foreign nationals, about 228 passports have been deposited, said Additional Chief Secretary (Home), Awanish Awasthi.
Awsathi said in the wake of the threat of the spread of coronavirus pandemic, a drive, to identify and nab the members of Tablighi Jamaat, has been launched in the entire state for the last three days.
Though, COVID-19 suspects have been summoned from mosques, shrines and were kept in ‘quarantines’, informed ACS.
In addition, 35 FIRs have been registered in 16 districts. Action has been ensured under the sections of the Foreigners Act, Disaster Management Act and Epidemics Act, apprised Awasthi in press briefing.
Checking done in a religious place
Additional Chief Secretary Awanish Awasthi said on Friday that the blood test of people who have been ‘quarantined’ is also being done extensively and so far there are 47 members of Tablighi Jamaat have been found to be COVID-19 positive.
Even today an extensive drive has been launched in Lucknow in which the religious site is being checked, informed ACS.
Sending clear message to absconders, Awasthi said the Government has again called for such people, wherever they are, they should come out in the interest of themselves, their family and society and get themselves checked for COVID-19 and get quarantined. If people will not cooperate in getting their check-up done, strict action will also be initiated against them.
47 people of the Jamaat confirmed COVID-19 patients
Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Amit Mohan Prasad informed reaching of 172 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh is due to a large number of Tablighi Jamaat members were found to be infected with dreaded coronavirus.
So far, 47 Jamaatis have been tested positive for the global pandemic. Cases related to these have come up in 14 districts. These include 01 in Ghaziabad, 05 in Agra, 06 in Kanpur, 02 in Shamli, 02 in Jaunpur, 05 in Meerut, 01 in Hapur, 01 in Ghazipur, 04 in Azamgarh, 04 in Firozabad, 01 in Hardoi, 02 in Pratapgarh, Saharanpur. 12 cases have been reported in Saharanpur and 01 in Shahjahanpur, informed Prasad.
Samples of cold, cough, fever are also being taken in other districts
Talking to the media persons, Prasad told that wherever cases of infection are emerging in the state, testing and quarantine is being done very effectively. The administration has been directed at the local level to do maximum surveillance, so that it could not be spread in the community.
Apart from this, in districts where the testing has reduced so far and there are complaints of cold, cough, fever, pneumonia cases, it has also been asked to take test samples, added Prasad.
3583 samples taken in Uttar Pradesh so far
So far 3583 samples have been taken in the state regarding coronavirus, out of which 172 reports are positive and 3264 reports are negative.
At the same time, the report of 198 suspects is yet to come. Eight labs are active for virus testing. Apart from this, testing of samples will start in Jhansi lab in a couple of days. In this episode, the work of testing of samples will start soon from the private lab, added Amit Mohan Prasad.
Prasad assured that efforts are being made to test blood samples as much as possible so that the report should be revealed as soon as possible in order to send confirmed COVID-19 patients in quarantine and isolation ward. Along with this, the rapid testing kit is also being considered and its use is being considered soon.
