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Delhi, the national capital, is heading for a prolonged period of blockade, added 166 more Covid-19 patients on Saturday, bringing the total number of patients infected with the coronavirus disease to 1,069 cases.
The milestone coincided with the Delhi government’s decision to reclassify the cases related to Tablighi Jamaat in its bulletin as “Special Operations” cases. These were called the “Markaz Masjid” cases in the city government health bulletins so far.
These “special operations” cases (712) represent two thirds of the 1,069 confirmed Covid-19 cases in Delhi.
Of the 166 cases that tested positive in the past 24 hours, 128 cases, or 77 percent, were linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation.
It has not been officially said why the Arvind Kejriwal government decided to revise the classification.
According to one version, some people contested the government’s description of the cases. The Delhi Minority Commission, according to the ANI news agency, had insisted that the mention of the mosque in the bulletins had led Muslims to be attacked and to call for their social boycott.
Also read | 3 more areas of Delhi under total Covid-19 blockade on Tablighi Jamaat cases
“It was considered that you could see that the government descriptor communicates what is essentially a health crisis,” a government official told the Hindustan Times.
Second, he explained, the change should reflect that the Tablighi Jamaat cases were not limited to the more than 2,000 people who were evacuated from Markaz, the seven-story Tablighi Jamaat headquarters in Nizamuddin, central Delhi.
The initial explosion of Covid-19 cases linked to Tablighi Jamaat were caused by infections among people who had been found in the multi-story building.
But as the days went by, the government thought the actual super spreaders could be people who may have contracted the infection during a visit to the Markaz and returned home. Or your contacts.
It’s a concern that has worried top government officials at almost every major review meeting that looks at the big picture. Like the one summoned by the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal, this week.
