Covid-19 death toll touches 50, total number of positive cases rise to 1,965 in India

New Delhi, April 2 (PTI): About 400 Covid-19 positive cases have been found whose epidemiological linkage can be traced to the Tablighi Jamaat cluster, the health ministry said on Thursday.

Addressing the daily briefing, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agrawal said 328 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 12 new deaths have been reported since Wednesday.

He said 1,965 coronavirus cases have been reported so far in India.

“Yesterday, the cabinet secretary through video conferencing with chief secretaries and DGPs asked them to initiate intensive contact tracing of Tablighi Jamaat participants and implement containment measures on war-footing, Agrawal said.

After contact tracing and sampling, about 400 positive cases have been identified whose epidemiological linkage can be traced to the Tablighi Jamaat cluster, he said.

This includes 173 from Tamil Nadu, 11 from Rajasthan, nine from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, 47 from Delhi, two from Puducherry, 22 from Jammu and Kashmir, 33 from Telengana, 67 from Andhra Pradesh and 16 from Assam.

These numbers are increasing as more samples are being tested, Agrawal said.

Regarding the Dharavi Covid-19 positive case, he said the building there has been sealed and sample collection and contact tracing is going on as per protocol.

The joint secretary said that the prime minister has urged states to manage the coronavirus crisis at the district level.

Orders have been placed for over 1.5 cr personal protective equipment (PPEs) and supply has already started, he said, adding that domestic manufacturing of N-95 masks has been stepped up.

The official also informed that there have been limited cases of doctors on duty testing Covid-19 positive and asserted that it is important to follow infection prevention control at hospitals.

Two Tablighi followers die of corona in Delhi

The national capital till Thursday reported 219 coronavirus cases with two new deaths in the last 24 hours, Cheif Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, adding the two dead were from those evacuated from the Markaz headquarters in Nizamuddin.

The Cheif Minister said among the 219 cases, 108 are those evacuated from Nizamuddin Markaz.

“There are 219 Covid-19 patients in Delhi, of which 108 were evacuated from Nizamuddin Markaz,” Kejriwal said.

Among the total patients, 51 have foreign travel history. “They got infection from abroad.”

As many as 29 cases are the family members of those having travel history.

“Two more deaths have been reported in Delhi. Total four have died in the city due to infection,” Kejriwal said. The two new deaths are also from the people who were evacuated from Markaz, he added.

Kejriwal said while the remaining patients are stable, those from Markaz are in a serious condition.

Till Wednesday night, Delhi had reported two deaths and 152 cases.