COVID-19: Spike in Cases in Jharkhand, Links to Tablighi Jamaat

The first coronavirus case in Jharkhand was a Malaysian woman who also took part in Nizamuddin Markaz.

Medical workers attend to a suspected coronavirus patient. Image used for representation.

(Photo: PTI)

Jharkhand reported its first death from COVID-19 on Thursday, 9 April. The number of cases in the state also spiked suddenly, with the count of four positive cases till Wednesday increasing to 13 on Thursday.

The reason behind this sudden increase is the testing of people who attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi, which has become one of the largest hotspots for coronavirus transmission in the nation.

A 72-year-old elderly man died from COVID-19 at Bokaro General Hospital on Wednesday night. The man, who hails from Sadam village in Gomia, was already ill and hospitalised.

Markaz Connection

There are currently four coronavirus-infected patients admitted to Bokaro General Hospital. One of these is a woman who took part in Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi.

Dr Ashok Kumar Pathak, CMO of the hospital, said that the woman had gone to Dhaka, proceeded to Kolkata, and then gone to Delhi and stayed in Markaj for three days. After this, the woman returned to Ranchi.

Three more people hospitalised are from this woman's family, and belong to Telo village.

“A survey is being done in Telo and Sadam villages. Sampling of families is being done. Appeals are being made for people who have taken part in the Jamaat to come forward. Legal action will be taken against those who do not come forward.”

Dr Ashok Kumar Pathak, CMO, BGH

Other than the five cases in Bokaro, seven cases of coronavirus are in Ranchi. One of these is the Malaysian woman who was the first coronavirus case of Jharkhand. The rest of the cases are also from the same Hindpiri area where she was staying. This Malaysian woman also took part in Nizamuddin Markaz. This way, the new cases are also connected to the Markaz. There are also concerns of infection as two more women, who used to frequent Hindpiri, have also tested positive.

Another case is from the Hazaribagh district, in which it is a labourer who had returned from West Bengal to his village. A worrying fact in this case is that when the man was initially hospitalised and his test results were yet to be confirmed, he went to the shops around the hospital. Since the confirmation of his diagnosis, the district administration has appealed to the people who visited those shops during that time to come forward.

(This story was first published on Quint Hindi.)