By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, March 31, 2020: Search for more than a dozen people from Odisha – suspected Covide-19 positive cases, who attended a religious event in Delhi is on, officials said.

The congregation – part of a 20th Century Islamic movement called Tablighi Jamaat – began at the end of February, but some of the main events were held in early March.

So far three persons already have been identified and kept under quarantine. Their family members are also under surveillance, said Subroto Bagchi, Odisha government’s chief spokesperson on COVID-19.

In the entire country, at least six regions have reported cases that can be directly traced to the days-long congregation at a mosque. The southern state of Telangana reported on Sunday night that six people who had attended the event died from the virus. More than 40 of Telangana’s 71 cases were either directly or indirectly linked to the event, according to media reports.

Similarly, Kashmir reported its first death from the virus last week – a 65-year-old who had been in Delhi for the congregation. A cluster has even appeared in the distant Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where six of the nine who have tested positive, had returned from the Delhi event.

The southern states of Tami Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have said more than 3,000 people from their states had attended the event, and Tmil Nadu has traced 16 positive patients to it.

Many national media channels and popular newspapers have reported this matter.

It is note worthy that 250 people who had attended the religious meet have shown Coronavirus symptoms, 24 have been reported to be Covid-19 positive and 6 attendees are dead.

We hope that these persons will admit the fact that they had attended the congregation and go through proper screening and isolation.