16 of 18 active coronavirus cases linked to Jamaat event: HP officials

Sixteen of the 18 active coronavirus cases currently in Himachal Pradesh are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin last month, officials said here on Sunday.

The officials said they are either members of the Jamaat or their contacts.

The rest two are the paramedics of a private hospital in Solan's Baddi.

They had come in contact with a 70-year-old Delhi resident woman, who stayed at a guest house in Baddi last month and died of coronavirus at the Chandigarh's PGIMER on April 2, the officials said.

According to them, the state has so far witnessed 33 cases, of which nine have recovered while four were shifted to a private hospital outside the state after they wished so.

Two people have died due to the virus in the state.

Meanwhile, SP (Law and Order) Khushal Sharma said a total of 845 Jamaatis and their primary contacts have been identified and quarantined in the state so far.

Of them 380 are Jamaat members while 465 are their primary contacts, he added.

Providing data, the SP said 29 FIRs have been registered so far against 105 Tablighi Jamaat members for curfew violations and deliberately concealing their travel or contact history.

The SP said till date, they have registered 721 FIRs with the arrest of 621 people for curfew and lockdown violations.

As many as 523 vehicles have also been seized, he added.