Karnataka Muslim leaders tell Tablighis to take COVID-19 test

Karnataka's Muslim leaders on Friday urged all Tablighi Jamaat returnees from New Delhi's Nizamuddin to take a COVID-19 test for quarantine if they turn positive.

Alarmed over reports from across the country that many Tablighis who visited the Nizamuddin mosque in March turned positive, chief minister B.S. Yediyurappa sought the help of the state's Muslim leaders in persuading all the returnees to take the test.

"The Muslim leaders, including legislators and former ministers agreed to give the state health department details of Tablighis who returned to the state but did not report to the department for the test," Yediyurappa said in a statement later.

According to the health department, of the 391 Tablighi returnees traced and identified so far, about 150 were tested and 13 of them turned positive, while the remaining reported negative.

"The Muslim leaders, including former Union minister C.M. Ibrahim, former state minister Zameer Ahmed, Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad and Congress MLC Saleem Ahmed told the chief minister that they sought the community's religious leaders' help in locating the remaining Tablighis and their contacts as they fanned out across the southern state on return from Delhi.

"The minority leaders have also agreed to ensure no mass prayers are held at mosques in the state during the lockdown and social distance is maintained in the community, as prevention was the only way to contain the virus," said the statement.

Later, Zameer Ahmed made an appeal on social media to the community in the state to trace and identify all Tablighi returnees who are yet to report for the Covid test. IANS