HYDERABAD: Burden of novel coronavirus patients on Hyderabad has now lessened considerably in last 24 hours with departure of people from districts other than Sindh’s.

Most of them happened to be Tableeghi Jamaat members from upcountry and foreign lands including Indonesia, China, Malaysia and Philippines who have now left Hyderabad safely.

Administration and health officials have taken a sigh of relief since Tuesday night when groups of the preachers were given send-off at different locations.

After their tests were done they were quarantined in different mosques, government facilities and isolation centres.

As their 14 days period of quarantine was completed in last few days, administration moved district health authorities to get them tested for confirmation of virus. Following confirmation of two back-to-back tests which turned out to be negative, they started leaving for their homes.

Initially, a batch of 91 and then six Tableeghi men separately departed for their home districts in Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh. It was followed by departure of another 57 persons on Tuesday-Wednesday night and then 18 on Wednesday afternoon from Kohsar Latifabad hospital where an isolation centre is functioning. “These 75 included 14 foreigners”, said hospital medical superintendent Dr Suresh.

The patients from Liaquat University Hospital’s isolation centre, Isra Hospital, Rajputana, Noor and Makki mosques have been discharged. These patients included teenaged Chinese national Tableeghi man, who was first patient to have been diagnosed as positive in Noor Mosque. It forced authorities to go for massive sampling of his co-fellows.

Around 105 people are those who were kept at Kohsar and Isra hospitals as well as LUH isolation ward ever since their tests turned out to be positive in third week of March. In addition to it, 115 people were cumulatively in quarantine in Labour Colony flats, Rajputana Hospital, Noor and Makki mosques quarantine facilities and have been tested negative on Tuesday.

Until April’s first week the district administration had not been able to consolidate actual figures of positive cases, which were later on reconciled with support of health and police authorities. The only figure that was readily available was in LUH’s isolation ward.

Another 60 men from the jamaat are ready for departure from Labour Colony flats located on Tando Mohammad Khan road after their tests turned out to be negative. “Of these 60 people, 44 are residents of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, five from Azad Kashmir, three from Jamshoro and eight from other districts of Sindh”, said an official.

Local Noor Mosque custodian, Haji Aslam also expressed his gratitude to God that results of large number of his jamaat followers turned out to be negative and they have left for their home districts from different areas in line with administrative guidelines.

“Now we are left with few people inside Noor Mosque to take care of its management alone but we are not holding any congregation. Now mosque is not locked but government directives are being complied with”, said Haji Aslam. He stated that medical certificates clearing them of virus have been issued to all those people who left Hyderabad for their home districts.

“Entire mosque has been washed and disinfected. If some of our colleagues are staying anywhere they will be following required standard operating procedures (SOP) accordingly before their repatriation”, Aslam explained. He said that all jamaat followers who had been infected had been in trouble while they were away from their families. “But now good news is coming to us that they all are leaving for their homes”, he disclosed.

Sources claimed that police had compiled figures of 395 people, in all, from Tableeghi jamaat who had reached Hyderabad. Subsequently, they stayed at different locations including mosques, hospitals and quarantine facilities. And these were 26 such locations in Hyderabad district.

They landed in quarantine or isolation wards after their tests turned out to be positive. It was their bulk sampling between March 30-31 in Noor Mosque that led to a spike in coronavirus cases of Hyderabad, prompting Sindh government to direct administration and police to make sure that proper sampling should be done. Police sources claimed that so far out of 395, 232 have left Hyderabad in batches and remaining would be leaving as and when their tests were confirmed negative.

“A batch of 58 jamaat fellows left from Jamshoro to Bannu, Bajaur and other areas on Wednesday”, confirmed Jamshoro Deputy Commissioner Farid Mustafa and SSP Amjad Shaikh. According to DC Mustafa, eight were tested positive on Wednesday of 66 jamaat followers’ tests. They have been shifted to institute of chest disease (old TB sanatorium) in Kotri.

With 20 positive cases on Tuesday, Hyderabad’s total tally of positive cases — tested here — stood at 202. These 200 cases included Tableeghi Jamaat men, people and families from other districts. Two deaths including a resident of Tando Mohammad Khan were reported in LUH’s isolation ward some time back.

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2020