Covid Watch: Blame game over congregation

The Hindu Newsletter - Covid Watch: Blame game over congregation Tuesday 31, March 2020 [alt_text]( The Evening Wrap Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. We hope you are staying home and staying safe. Here are the big stories that you need to follow today: Blame game over congregation A religious congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin area in mid-March has triggered a controversy with communal overtones. The congregation, an annual event organised by an Islamic missionary movement called Tablighi Jamaat, had attracted around 8,000 people, including many from overseas, to the movement’s headquarters, Nizamuddin Markaz. Unable to leave due to the lockdown, thousands remained stranded at the Markaz (centre), heightening the risk of infections spreading. The Delhi government has now sealed the Markaz and evacuated over 1,000 people. Of these, more than 300 have been sent to various hospitals, while around 700 have been moved to quarantine facilities. Twenty-four cases from the centre were found to be positive for COVID-19. The development led to a blame game, with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal terming the congregation “an irresponsible act”. Other commentators have expressed concerns over potential vilification of one community as being primarily responsible for community transmission of the coronavirus in India. For the record, Tablighi Jamaat has defended itself on both counts: of breaking the law, and acting irresponsibly. A spokesperson pointed out that the congregation had already commenced on March 13, whereas the Delhi government order prohibiting large gatherings came out only on March 16. He added that, far from the Tablighi Jamaat inviting people at this time, thousands of worshippers were already present in the building, since it was the only international headquarters of the sect. He added that the government had issued visas to all the overseas visitors, enabling them to attend the event. They had no option but to accommodate the thousands of visitors in their building when their request seeking permissions for select vehicular transport for those stranded due to the lockdown elicited no response from the authorities, he said. At least six regions across the country are now reporting cases that can be traced directly to the congregation. COVID watch national - more hotspots [COVID-19]( has claimed 47 lives in India as of March 31, according to data from the Health Ministry and State governments. As many as 1,403 people have tested positive for the coronavirus. India reported its sharpest spike in the number of coronavirus cases on Monday as 227 people tested positive in 24 hours. The Health Ministry has attributed this to a lack of people's support and delay in timely detection of cases. "With over 1,200 cases of Covid-19, the number of hotspots in the country has increased. The government is using cluster containment strategies and doing rigorous contact tracing in these hotspots to check the virus from spreading further," Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry Lav Agarwal said. Blaming fake news A status report filed by the Ministry of Home Affairs in the Supreme Court claimed that “fake and misleading” messages about COVID-19 on social media created widespread panic, triggering the mass “barefoot” journey of migrant workers from cities to their native villages. “[Deliberate or inadvertent fake news and material capable of causing serious panic]( in the minds of the public is found to be the single most unmanageable hindrance in the management of this challenge... Will set up a separate unit headed by a joint secretary level officer in the Health Ministry and consisting of eminent specialist doctors from recognised institutions like AIIMS to answer the queries of citizens”, the MHA’s 39-page status report said. The Ministry went on to claim that the government, in fact, took “pro-active, pre-emptive and timely” action 13 days before even the World Health Organisation declared COVID-19 a “public health emergency of international concern”. Our Supreme Court correspondent writes that the Ministry at one point “indecipherably pointed out that the census figures show the total migrant population to be 4.14 crore, and the present crisis has only five to six lakh persons -- “by a very rough estimate” -- migrating back from COVID-infected cities to their native places. Relief directive The Supreme Court on Tuesday [directed the Union government]( to ensure that the migrant workers who have been stopped from crossing inter-State borders are provided food, shelter, and medicines in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde, through video conferencing, asked the government to tap community and religious leaders to speak to the migrant workers lodged in shelters. The court also asked the government to have trained counsellors talk to the workers. In Brief Air India pilots have [expressed concern over “flimsy protective gear](, inadequate sanitisers, shoddy disinfection procedure” as they embark on flights chartered by countries like Germany and the UK to repatriate their citizens stranded in India due to the nationwide lockdown. Two pilots’ unions, the Executive Pilots of Air India and Indian Pilots’ Guild, have written to the Minister of State for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri raising questions about their safety as they continue to work on the front line during a pandemic. The Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA), India's highest science advisory body, has recommended the widespread use of masks. It is a key coordinating agency among government scientific bodies and industry to accelerate decisions on dealing with COVID-19. “The proposed guide is meant to provide a simple outline of best practices to make, use, and reuse masks to enable NGOs and individuals to self-create such masks and accelerate widespread adoption of masks across India,” notes the advisory, which was made public via the Press Information Bureau on Tuesday. Hours after announcing a cut in salaries of all elected representatives, including the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister and all ministers, the [Maharashtra government has withdrawn it](. Instead, the government will be disbursing the March salary in two instalments, according to the official notification. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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