Kolkata: The 10 people who have tested positive for coronavirus in Andaman and Nicobar Islands had participated in a religious gathering in Delhi’s Nizamuddin between March 13 and 15 that was also attended by six Telangana men who eventually died due to the pandemic.
Thirty-five people in Delhi and Andhra Pradesh, who were also part of the gathering, have tested positive, with links to the event being traced in one death each in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Seven people from Port Blair and eight from Mayabunder in Middle Andaman, all aged between 22 and 68 years, visited Markaz in Delh from Tabligh Kamait.
Fourteen of them travelled in MV Swaraj Dweep ship on February 17 from Andaman around 6pm and reached Visakhapatnam on February 20 where the 15th person, who took an IndiGo flight, joined them.
All of them stayed at various local mosques in Visakhapatnam from February 20 to March 15. On March 16, they left for Delhi by train and reached Nizamuddin Markaz on March 19.
Further inquiry revealed that from March 19-23, they stayed in Nizamuddin in the national capital and attended the congregation.
In the meantime, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the lockdown and in a hurry, of the 15 members, seven took a Vistara flight and two boarded IndiGo on March 24 from Delhi to Port Blair.
Nine people reached Port Blair and during screening, they were sent to quarantine after they developed Covid-19 symptoms. However, one of them was in home isolation before being sent to a hospital and later, his wife also tested positive.
All of them were kept at GB Pant Hospital under isolation and their condition is stated to be normal. The other six were quarantined in Delhi.
The first positive case was confirmed after Chief Secretary Chetan Sanghi tweeted on March 26: “One islander has been tested positive. This person came via Kolkata by Vistara on 24th. Taken from Airport to hospital. Follow up action as per protocol underway. Pls #StayHome”.
By March 30, Sanghi confirmed 10 positive cases and said all belong to the same group.
Speaking to News18, Director General of Police, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dependra Pathak said: “All of them were related to Nizamuddin congregation. Their symptoms first reported when we were performing our duty at the immigration at Port Blair airport. We sought help from the health department and later it was found that they went to Delhi for the religious meeting.”