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Islam above Coronavirus safety: Users take to TikTok to spread falsehood, launch campaign against social distancing

OpIndia Staff
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Islam above Coronavirus safety: Users take to TikTok to spread falsehood, launch campaign against social distancing

As if misinformation on Whatsapp was not enough, Muslim users have now taken to TikTok, the video-sharing social networking service, to encourage social proximity amidst the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak.

In one such video, a man in a black shirt can be seen greeting his three friends. When one of them refuses to shake his hand highlighting concerns about contracting coronavirus infection that may ultimately lead to death, the man in the black shirt gives him a lesson in Islam.

He makes a bizarre statement, “You will leave Sunnat (traditional Islamic custom) today and Islam tomorrow due to your fear of death. We are Muslims and therefore we are not afraid to die.” His reluctant friend, now enlightened by the teachings of Islam, then proceeds to hug the man in the black shirt.

In another TikTok video, a group of Muslims sporting skull caps can be seen talking about coronavirus. When one of them stops the other from shaking hands, he is rebuked. The protagonist claims, “Islam teaches us that shaking hands spread love not coronavirus.” They then leave the scene gloating over the fact that they have managed to stay true to Islamic preachings. Interestingly, the informed friend who earlier tried to highlight that physical contact can spread infection can later be seen saluting the protagonist for making him realise the ideals of Islam.

In a video uploaded on another video sharing platform, Vigo, the protagonist can be seen asking for water. On being stopped from drinking from the bottle that belonged to a friend who is supposedly infected with coronavirus, the hero claims, “Sharing food eaten by another Muslim leads to Shifa (healing) and not corona.”

At a time when social distancing is crucial to preventing the spread of the pandemic, these TikTok videos encourage people under the guise of Islamic teachings to indulge in risky social behaviour.

Earlier, A Muslim protestor by the name of Rizvana in Shaheen Bagh had said, “Washing hands regularly is part of our lifestyle. We offer namaz five times a day and we wash our hands every time”, suggesting how she was safe from COVID-19 despite being a part of a mass gathering.

In a viral video, one of the Shaheen Bagh protesters could be heard dismissing the looming threat of coronavirus by claiming that Corona emerged from the Quran. Several Anti-CAA protestors do not think that the pandemic is a threat because the Anti-CAA protests are supposedly a ‘call from Allah‘.

Jamia Coordination Committee invites people to mark 100 days of protest amidst Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak, to be joined by Shaheen Bagh ‘Dadis’

OpIndia Staff
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Jamia Coordination Committee invites people to mark 100 days of protest amidst Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak, to be joined by Shaheen Bagh ‘Dadis’

The protesters against the Citizenship Amendment Act have by now it clear that they have no intention of withdrawing their protests in light of the Wuhan Coronavirus Pandemic. Such large public gatherings are the perfect breeding ground for the virus to infect even more people. However, anti-CAA protesters are not concerned yet, despite the fact that an organizer of one such protest has already tested positive for the virus. Consistent with the approach, the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC) has invited people to join them in their protests on the 21st of March to mark the completion of a hundred days of their protests.

Source: Facebook

The JCC has played a pivotal role in organizing these protests. As we had reported earlier, the JCC had campaigned heavily in areas that had witnessed extreme violence during the communal riots in Delhi during US President Donald Trump’s official visit to India. Earlier, they had also released a controversial video alleging brutality by the Delhi Police on the night of 15th of December, when the Police were forced to enter the campus to flush out rioters. JCC is not an official body of the Jamia Milia Islamia University. The protests on the 21st of March are being organized against the CAA, NRC, NPR, and ‘Police Brutality’.

  • Source: Facebook

The protests will feature a performance by one Nizamuddin’s Inquilabi Team at 5 p.m. in the evening. The protests will likely see a great crowd and are in direct contravention of the guidelines issued by the government to prevent the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic. It is important to note that such protests have regularly attracted performances by artists, often of great prominence. However, with the arrival of the pandemic, ’eminent’ individuals appear to be not taking any chances.

Source: Facebook

‘Inquilabi Dadis’ of Shaheen Bagh will also deliver a speech on the occasion of the completion of 100 days of the Jamia protests. The ‘dadis’ are extremely vulnerable to the Wuhan Coronavirus and are particularly at risk of succumbing to the disease. However, as recent comments by them have revealed, they appear to believe that their faith in Allah will ensure that they are not infected by the virus.

Source: Facebook

Earlier, the anti-CAA protesters had declared that they will continue with their protests with certain modifications. Women above the age of 70 years had been barred from participating in the protests. However, it appears that the ‘Dadis’ will mark the Jamia protests with their presence. The protesters believe that the pandemic is not a threat to their health because the Anti-CAA protests are supposedly a ‘call from Allah‘.

Update: The Jamia Millia Islamia protests that have been going on at gate no. 7 of the university are now temporarily suspended.

Two foreign returned women defy coronavirus isolation protocol in Kolkata, forcibly admitted to hospital

OpIndia Staff
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Two foreign returned women defy coronavirus isolation protocol in Kolkata, forcibly admitted to hospital

Two women returnees from abroad were forcibly taken to the hospital in Kolkata after they violated the safety norms set by the government in view of spreading coronavirus scare. The Kolkata Police admitted the two women to a hospital for defying the coronavirus isolation protocol.

As per reports of IANS, the two women are identified as residents of housing societies of the Bellygunge area of South Kolkata. The women had defied the self-quarantine norm after returning from abroad.

The Mamata Banerjee government recently warned people to be forcibly sent to quarantine if they fail to cooperate with the protocol after returning from abroad. The clear warning of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came just after reports of two coronavirus positive patients who defied the protocols to remain in self-isolation.

Mamata Banerjee told the media at the secretariat, “Those returning from abroad, will have to go into self-isolation. If they don’t, then they will be out in force quarantine.”

A huge disturbance was created in the state after the UK returned teenage son of a senior bureaucrat defied self-quarantine and freely roamed various places in Kolkata. He was the first positive case of coronavirus in Kolkata.

Officials revealed that the son of senior bureaucrat ignored the repeated requests from the health department to get hospitalized and get tested.

Another youth, who is also tested positive of coronavirus had returned from the UK on 13 March had also defied the self-quarantine norm. As per reports, he also visited his father’s sanitary fittings outlets for three days.

Posts claiming presence of swans, dolphins in canals of Venice after Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak turns out to be misleading

OpIndia Staff
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Posts claiming presence of swans, dolphins in canals of Venice after Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak turns out to be misleading

As the Wuhan Coronavirus spreads across the globe, there are several images of new animal life that have come to the fore. Many users have shared pictures claiming that though Coronavirus is a pandemic, there is an upside to it since animal life is thriving again. A social user named Kaveri on Tuesday shared a series of images of claiming the presence of swans, dolphins at the canals of Venice, Italy.

Kaveri, posting the images of the crystal clear canals, rejoiced about the presence of swans in the canals. According to Kaveri, the presence of swans in the canals of Venice was a side effect of the pandemic outbreak of coronavirus. Her tweet was shared across the social media platforms leading to the garnering of more than a million likes.

“Here’s an unexpected side effect of the pandemic,” her tweet said. “The water flowing through the canals of Venice is clear for the first time in forever. The fish are visible, the swans returned,” she added.

Kaveri, however, did not stop there. She went on to share another set of misleading reports claiming that Dolphins had returned to the Venice canals as humans self-isolated themselves after coronavirus pandemic spread across cities of Italy.

Nevertheless, the images shared by Kaveri are not real. According to the National Geographic channel report, the images of swans at the canals was apparently captured at the canals of Burano, a small island in the greater Venice metropolitan area.

The Venetian dolphins which were allegedly seen at the Venice, according to the claims of Kaveri are also false as the videos were filmed at a port in Sardinia, in the Mediterranean Sea, hundreds of miles away.

Despite the clarification, Kaveri has not deleted her misleading Twitter posts. Speaking to the NGC, she argued that her posts were still relevant because waters in Venice are clearer than usual a result of decreased boat activity and that is what mattered to her.

Defending her posts, she tweeted about the unprecedented number of likes and retweets she has received on the tweet. “It’s a personal record for me, and I would not like to delete it,” she said.

Kaveri’s defence about it being a ‘personal record’ perhaps refers to the number of retweets and likes her tweets garnered over time. At the time of this report, her tweet had 281.9k retweets and over 1 million likes.

UP Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh tests negative for Wuhan Coronavirus after attending infected Kanika Kapoor’s party

K Bhattacharjee
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UP Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh tests negative for Wuhan Coronavirus after attending infected Kanika Kapoor’s party

Health Minister of Uttar Pradesh Jai Pratap Singh has tested negative for the Wuhan Coronavirus after attending a party with singer Kanika Kapoor, reported PTI. The Bollywood singer had tested positive following her return to India from the United Kingdom on Sunday. The singer had then proceeded to throw a dinner party that was attended by numerous influential people.

Earlier, Dushyant Singh, who had attended Kanika Kapoor’s dinner party along with his mother Vasundhara Raje, had tested negative in his first sampling taken to test for coronavirus infection. They will remain in quarantine despite for the time being. Dushyant Singh had attended the Parliament the next day and interacted with fellow MPs raising serious health concerns for his colleagues. Dushyant was also among the MPs who had met President Kovind recently.

Subsequently, a case was registered against singer Kanika Kapoor at Sarojini Nagar police station in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh for negligence (IPC Section 269), disobedience of an order issued by a public servant (IPC Section 188) and spread of the deadly Wuhan virus, COVID-19 (IPC Section 270), following a complaint filed by the Lucknow Chief Medical Officer.

ICMR releases revised testing strategy for coronavirus, all asymptomatic contacts of confirmed positive cases will be tested

OpIndia Staff
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ICMR releases revised testing strategy for coronavirus, all asymptomatic contacts of confirmed positive cases will be tested

In the wake of the novel coronavirus that has swept the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has released a revised strategy to battle the spread of the contagion that has paralysed many countries across the world. As per new guidelines announced by the ICMR today, all the asymptomatic individuals who have undertaken international travel in the last 14 days are mandated to stay home quarantine for 14 days.

The new ICMR guidelines say that all asymptomatic direct and high-risk contacts of confirmed cases should get themselves tested once between day 5 and day 14 of coming in his/her contact. The revised guidelines also added that such individuals who have come from abroad should be tested for covid-19 only if they develop symptoms for the novel coronavirus. The new strategy includes testing of all symptomatic contacts of laboratory-confirmed cases as well as of symptomatic health-care workers. All hospitalised patients with Severe Acute Respiratory Illnesses, including cough and fever and/or shortness of breath, will be tested for the contagion.

The apex body of medical research altered their strategy as the coronavirus cases in India swell to 271. With the new guidelines, the ICMR aims to shore up the measures to contain the spread more effectively and provide a diagnosis to the patients meeting the criterion for the novel coronavirus.

Until now, all the asymptomatic patients who undertook international travel in the last 14 days and developed symptoms, all symptomatic contacts of laboratory-confirmed and all symptomatic health care workers were being tested for the infection as per the guidelines.

The cases of covid-19 reported in India thus far are all but related to travel and local transmission from imported cases. Instances of community transmission are still not being registered in India. Once community transmission is documented, ICMR will bring about changes in its testing strategy to meet the appropriate testing for community transmission stage. The testing strategy is evaluated by the National Task Force established by Secretary DHR & DG, ICMR and Chaired by VK Paul, a member of NITI Aayog.

At present, there are 75 laboratories across the country equipped to test for Covid-19, as per the list published by ICMR. 18 private companies, both domestic and international, have been issued licenses to do testing for the virus.

Coronavirus: Yogi Govt announces monetary help, free ration, for more than 35 lakh daily wage earners in the state

OpIndia Staff
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Coronavirus: Yogi Govt announces monetary help, free ration, for more than 35 lakh daily wage earners in the state

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday announced that it will compensate the daily wage earners in the state by transferring Rs 1000 directly in the bank accounts of needy people to help them meet their daily needs amidst the Coronavirus outbreak. CM Yogi Adityanath tweeted to inform that around 1.65 crore needy people will be provided with free ration for one month. Moreover, the families which are not getting benefits under any government scheme, they will be provided an assistance of Rs 1000 per month by the state government.

As the economic slowdown caused due to the rapid spread of the Novel disease has affected the livelihoods of many daily wage labourers, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath in a press conference held on March 21, announced that “Rs 1000 each will be given 15 lakh daily wage labourers and 20.37 lakh construction workers via direct benefit transfer to help them meet their daily needs.”

The CM also informed that Pension earners under Uttar Pradesh government will be paid advance pension for two months, which will be paid in April. Moreover, Rs 565 crore for jobs already completed under MNREGA will also be paid soon.

Earlier, on March 18, Yogi Adityanath had taken to Twitter to announce that the loss of wages of the daily earners due to the coronavirus outbreak will be compensated with the state help for which a committee had been set up.

He also appealed to the people that there was no need to panic over coronavirus. He further assured that the state has taken adequate measures and has sufficient stock of essential commodities and medicines. “We have sufficient stock of essential commodities and medicines in the state. So, please don’t rush to shops to buy things and hoard commodities,” he said.

Yogi Adityanath urged people to adhere to ‘Janata curfew’ called by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. “All metro rail, state and city bus services in the state will remain closed tomorrow,” the Chief Minister said.

The BJP government led by Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh has taken up several strict measures to combat the deadly Covid-19 while making sure that the state does not suffer due to the crisis.

It announced that the state government will bear the medical expenses of those infected with the deadly virus.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also announced that there will be no deduction of salary for those patients who take leave for coronavirus treatment.

According to the reports, the state government has also constituted a high-level committee to provide them with the required monetary support. The three-member committee, headed by the UP finance minister and comprising the state agriculture and labour ministers, has been asked by chief minister Yogi Adityanath to submit a report within three days.

“The committee will analyse the situation arising out of the coronavirus outbreak so that the livelihood of the poor and daily wage earners is not affected. The state intends to provide money to these people through the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) medium,” UP cabinet minister Shrikant Sharma confirmed to the media.

In the backdrop of Coronavirus health crisis, the Uttar Pradesh government has banned all forms of protest and demonstrations in the state to protect the general public from this pandemic. Meanwhile, the CM has directed for the closure of all schools, colleges, and educational institutions till April 2, while also suspending all competitive and academic board examinations. Earlier, the schools and colleges were closed till March 22 even as the ongoing exams were not disturbed.

The government has also decided to close down all the tourist sports till March 31, although the process of sanitising these places would continue, said the minister. “The state government has decided to implement the central government advisory pertaining to coronavirus in totality,” he added.

Speaking on the preparedness of the state to handle the crisis, Sharma added the CM Yogi Adityanath had appealed to the people to avoid crowded places and not to panic on the issue, although the masses should exercise caution and spread awareness. All the cinema halls and multiplexes have also been ordered to close down till April 2 in UP even as the respective district magistrates have been directed to speed up the awareness campaign through posters and banners.

“At present, the state is under stage II of coronavirus and with effective campaign and public awareness, we can prevent it from reaching the critical stage III,” Sharma underlined.

Meanwhile, the government has advised the private companies to allow their employees to work from home, while a committee headed by the state chief secretary has been constituted to suggest similar measures for the government employees. The state government has mandated free treatment of coronavirus patients, while the government and non-government employees have been assured that their salaries would not be cut during the work of the home regime.

Till now, 23 coronavirus positive cases have been identified in UP which includes Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor, against whom the Lucknow police have registered a case for negligence, disobedience of order issued to curtail the spread of Coronavirus, after she allegedly tried to hide her travel history, defy self-isolation protocols and even evaded screening.

Recently the Yogi Adityanath government had warned to take strict action against those who will not cooperate with the authorities to control the novel coronavirus outbreak and spread misinformation and panic among the people.

Delhi: Jahangirpuri anti-CAA protest organizer tests positive for Wuhan Coronavirus after meeting his infected sister

K Bhattacharjee
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Delhi: Jahangirpuri anti-CAA protest organizer tests positive for Wuhan Coronavirus after meeting his infected sister

One of the organizers of the anti-CAA protests at Jahangirpuri in Delhi has tested positive for the Wuhan Coronavirus after his sister tested positive for the same on Thursday. His sister had arrived from Saudi Arabia on the 11th of March and he had met her two days later. The person is admitted to the Lok Nayak Hospital in Delhi while his sister is undergoing treatment at Safdarjung Hospital.

The protester had visited the protest site at Jahangirpuri after meeting his sister on the 13th. “I did not show any symptoms of the disease at the time, so I went about life as usual,” he had told The Print after he had begun showing symptoms of the highly contagious disease.

Meanwhile, the anti-CAA protesters at Shaheen Bagh have decided to continue their protests despite the extreme health risks associated with it. Some minor modifications have been added, however, they are unlikely to inhibit the spread of the infection in any manner. Women above the age of 70 years had been barred from participating in the protests. Similar restrictions had been placed on children below the age of 10 years. Such measures are unlikely to help as those participating in the protests will carry the virus with them to their homes where the elderly and the children will be exposed to the virus.

The protesters have decided to disregard the Prime Minister’s call for “Janata Curfew” as well. They also emphasized that they wash their hands daily. In a viral video, one of the Shaheen Bagh protestors could be heard arguing how coronavirus can also happen to those who travel in the metro but no one is asking them to stop. However, everyone wants Shaheen Bagh protests to end. They believe that coronavirus is a ploy by Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to get them to end the protests.

In another video, however, one of the protesters could be heard dismissing the looming threat of coronavirus by claiming that Corona emerged from the Quran. Several protestors do not think that the pandemic is a threat because the Anti-CAA protests are supposedly a ‘call from Allah‘.

Law Student and Lawyers file Complaint with Delhi Police against Shaheen Bagh Protesters in wake of Covid-19 pandemic

OpIndia Staff
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Law Student and Lawyers file Complaint with Delhi Police against Shaheen Bagh Protesters in wake of Covid-19 pandemic

In an important development, 4 public-spirited persons — three lawyers and a law student have lodged a complaint against the indefinite protests staged at Shaheen Bagh to resist the new citizenship law. The complaint has been filed with the Delhi Police to initiate action against all protestors who by gathering in mass numbers continue to pose an unfathomed danger to the health and life of millions of Indian citizens on account of the coronavirus outbreak.

One of the complainants shared a copy of the complaint on Twitter

As the risk of Shaheen Bagh protestors getting exposed to Coronavirus continues, in the complaint filed by these activist citizens, it has been stated, “With the onslaught of the coronavirus (CoVid-19) that has gripped more than 182 countries causing a manifold increase in fatalities, the protests at Shaheen Bagh pose an imminent threat and danger to the lives of millions of Indians”.

Citing the preventive advisories issued both by the Union Government and NCT Government, the complaint alleges, “an assembly such as Shaheen Bagh has the capacity to unleash a pandemic of unmanageable proportions.”

While noting that “Under the pretext of the constitutional right to dissent, Shaheen Bagh has emerged as breeding grounds for an insidious campaign to destabilize India’s peace and security”the complainants have highlighted how the protest at Shaheen Bagh defy fundamental notions of civic obligations saddled on Indian citizens. In the complaint it has been noted that “the constitutional right to protest is not without responsibility. In insisting upon this right, people cannot absolve their civic responsibilities towards the country.”

To highlight the distressing gravity of the situation, the complaint also draws attention to recent media reports about a person who participated in the anti-CAA protests suspected of being infected by the deadly virus by coming in contact with a Saudi Arabia returnee who had tested positive for CoViD-19.

Various provisions of the Indian Penal Code have been invoked in the complaint to illustrate the defiant and illegal manner in which the protests at Shaheen Bagh have been organized ever since India witnessed a spike in the number of coronavirus affected patients. In particular, it has been stated, “It requires no elaboration that the above activities of the protestors severely impede the execution of the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 and the Delhi Epidemic Diseases COVID-19 Regulations 2020. Since any assembly of five or more people that impedes the execution of any law constitutes an unlawful assembly under Section 141 of the Indian Penal Code, the protest at Shaheen Bagh squarely falls within that definition of the said offense. In addition, these protests also constitute offenses of public nuisance and negligent actions, which is likely to spread the infection of a dangerous disease threatening life that is punishable under Section 268 and 269 of the Indian Penal Code.”

The complainants have urged the Delhi Police to take strong action against the culpable persons by registering a FIR against them and take other preventive measures to avoid risking further spread of the disease.

Read- Coronavirus: Anti-CAA protests organiser in Delhi shows symptoms of COVID-19 after sister tests positive, had visited ‘protest’ site

As both the Union and State Governments across the country scramble their resources to prevent the transmission from slipping into community transmission stage, the sheer apathy of the Shaheen Bagh demonstration and its organizers to the difficulty faced by the country shows that it is just a facade to mask the insidious agenda of destroying India’s peace and tranquility. The filing of the complaint by these well-intentioned activists show that Indian public has no doubts that Shaheen Bagh is a selfish, malicious and undemocratic movement hell-bent on serving extraneous and oblique motives.

The complainants who have collectively filed the complaint with the Delhi Police are Sarthak Raizada, Shubhendu Anand, Nikunj Agarwal and Pradosh Shetty.

‘We wash hands 5 times a day for Namaz’, says Shaheen Bagh Anti-CAA protester: Protests to continue with some changes even as Coronavirus spreads

OpIndia Staff
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‘We wash hands 5 times a day for Namaz’, says Shaheen Bagh Anti-CAA protester: Protests to continue with some changes even as Coronavirus spreads

Despite the coronavirus scare, Shaheen Bagh protestors who are on a sit-in agitation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) for the past 97 days have decided to go unabated about their business with some modifications, reported News18.

A protestor by the name of Rizvana said, “Washing hands regularly is part of our lifestyle. We offer namaz five times a day and we wash our hands every time”, suggesting how she was safe from COVID-19 despite being a part of a mass gathering.

In complete disregard to the “Janata Curfew” recommended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday to highlight the significance of home quarantine in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, another protestor was quoted as saying, “On Sunday, we will sit under small tents. Only two women will sit under each tent and maintain a distance of more than a metre between them.”

Women above the age of 70 years had been barred from participating in the protests. Similar restrictions had been placed on children below the age of 10 years. It is important to remember that earlier the death of a 2-month-old infant who was regularly exposed to the cold weather could not deter the protestors from taking children to such protests. When the child died, one protestor was quoted as saying, “Allah ki bachchi thi, Allah ne bula liya ( She was Allah’s child and she has gone back to Allah).”

Mattresses had been replaced by cots and no loudspeakers would be used for making announcements. Tasser Ahmed, one of the key organisers of Shaheen Bagh protests, has said that the protest site was being disinfected regularly.

In a viral video, one of the Shaheen Bagh protestors could be heard arguing how coronavirus can also happen to those who travel in the metro but no one is asking them to stop. However, everyone wants Shaheen Bagh protests to end. They believe that coronavirus is a ploy by Home Minister Amit Shah and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to get them to end the protests.

In another video, however, one of the protesters could be heard dismissing the looming threat of coronavirus by claiming that Corona emerged from the Quran. Several protestors do not think that the pandemic is a threat because the Anti-CAA protests are supposedly a ‘call from Allah‘.

Earlier, one of the organisers of the anti-CAA protests in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri had shown symptoms of the COVID-19 and underwent tests after he met his sister, who was earlier tested positive. His sister had returned from the Umrah pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia on 11th March. The 35-year-old protestor said he had been to the anti-CAA protest site in Delhi “a couple of times” after meeting his sister on 13 March.

The Indian Council of Medical Research has confirmed that the novel Coronavirus cases in India have climbed to 206 on Friday. ICMR said in its report that a total of 14,376 samples have been tested from 13,486 individuals for testing the presence of SARS-CoV2 as on March 20, 2020. Finally, 206 people are found positive of COVID-19 novel coronavirus among suspected cases and those who were in contacts of known positive cases.

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