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Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Narottam Mishra on Tuesday claimed that 103 out of 123 Covid-19 positive cases in Ujjain were affected by members of the Tablighi Jamaat.
The minister further stated that only 20 got infection from the locals, a claim nobody had made before. With 20 deaths, Ujjain has the highest death rate in cities that have reported at least 100 cases.
Ujjain had reported MP’s first death on March 25. However, the authorities in Ujjain had never spoken about the source of infection. They maintained that most patients had no travel history. Ujjain is 35 kms from Indore, the worst affected city in the state. The minister did not elaborate but hinted that the infection in Ujjain may have come from Indore.
In his previous briefing, Mishra, who also holds the home portfolio, held the Jamaatis responsible for the state’s failure to contain the spread of the disease. He claimed the they had attacked the police and doctors and spat on them.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhah, too, had blamed the Jamaatis for spreading the infection in Bhopal.
ADG Upendra Jain had recently said that many police personnel in Bhopal got the infection when they went to search for the Jamaatis who were lodged in different mosques in the city.
Meanwhile, Burhanpur, Ashoknagar, Shahdol and Rewa reported their first novel coronavirus cases on Tuesday taking to 31 the number of Covid-19 affected districts in the state. Harda had reported its first case on Monday.
With 222 new cases, including 165 new cases from Indore alone, the total count of positive case reached 2387. Indore accounts for 1372 of them followed at 458 by Bhopal, which reported 27 new cases.
Indore and Ujjain reported three deaths each increasing their respective toll to 63 and 20. The state toll climbed to 120.