With 193 Tablighi cases UP COVID-19 tally reaches 348

Lucknow, April 8 (IANS) The number of corona positive cases in Uttar Pradesh has risen to 348 with 193 cases being directly linked to Tablighi Jamaat returnees.

Of the 31 new cases, 25 were related to the Tablighi Jamaat.

According to official sources, Agra reported a maximum of 10 cases, with six of them linked to Tablighi Jamaat while four were contacts of old patients. The Agra tally now stands at 63.

All samples of Agra were tested by the King George’s Medical University.

Agra’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Mukesh Vats said, “The new cases have taken the district tally to 63, including 39 cases with Tablighi connection. Two new patients are contacts of a previous patient while one is a city based private doctor who came in contact with a patient who tested positive. The last one is the grandmother of a city resident who returned from Belgium on March 15.”

The case reported in Lucknow was also a contact of the Jamaat attendee.

Narendra Agarwal, CMO Lucknow, said, “The new patient in Lucknow is a contact of a Tablighi attendee, who was living in the Sadar area of the city. She had reported at a private hospital in Chinhat area but was later shifted to a government hospital.”

The tally for Lucknow has reached 24, including 13 Tablighis.

Three persons with the Jamaat connection have tested positive to coronavirus in the Basti district taking the total to eight.

Three new Jamaat cases in Firozabad took the district tally to seven. The patient from Azamgarh was also a Jamaat attendee who took the district tally to four.

In another late-night report released by the Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College in Meerut, seven cases — three from Bulandshahr, two from Meerut and one each from Saharanpur and Baghpat — have been confirmed and all are linked to the Tablighi Jamaat.

–IANS

amita/dpb