Health Ministry setup special team to identify Covid-19 hotspots

A special team has been set up to identify positive and suspected Covid-19 'hotspots', said Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Sources in the health ministry told ETV Bharat that the initiative was taken after hundreds of people from the Nizamuddin Markaz mosque and its adjacent areas in Delhi were found with illness and other symptoms related to Covid-19.

New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday has setup special team to identify positive and suspected Covid-19 'hotspots.'

"We need to identify from where larger Covid cases are coming. We have setup special team to carry house to house search. People with acute and respiratory illness will be taken for quarantine. We are also doing contact tracing," said Luv Agarwal, joint secretary in the Health Ministry.

He said that areas with high density population have also been kept under close vigil.

"We have started identifying such hotspots on war footing," said Agarwal.

Sources in the health ministry told ETV Bharat that the initiative was taken after hundreds of people from the Nizamuddin Markaz mosque and its adjacent areas in Delhi were found with illness and other symptoms related to Covid-19.

As many as 150 people from Nizamuddin Markaz and surrounding areas have been taken to Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) hospital for testing.

The Nizamuddin Markaz mosque on March 10 has reportedly witnessed a large gathering of people from Malaysia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Kyrgyzstan.

It is suspected that local residents of Nizamuddin area also came in close contact with many people of the mosque.

Officials said that two people who were present in the gathering were tested Covid-19 positive.

"After the incident, at least 150 people were taken for testing in last three days from the area...Seven of them had tested positive," a health ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

Following the report, police have sealed the entire area. Police is also using drones to identify locality which witnesses large gathering of crowd.

It may be mentioned here that Nizamuddin Markaz mosque also known as Banglewali Masjid is a centre for the Tablighi network. It is also known as the origin of the Tablighi Jamaat.

"The district administration have been asked to take people with suspected symptoms for testing," said Luv Agarwal.