Union Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday stated that enough has been discussed and debated about the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi and said he "feels bad" to raise the issue every time.
On being asked by BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao that if Tablighi Jamaat event was a take-off point for coronavirus in India?, Harsh Vardhan said, "Enough has been discussed and debated about it. I feel bad to raise this issue every now and then."
"However, around the second week of March, when the virus was spreading very fast in the world and one and a half month had passed after the country reported the first case, even till then the number of cases in the country was very less," he said.
"At that time, this unfortunate and sad incident took place. When it took place, there was no social distancing followed there. In Delhi, at that time, there was this situation where 10-15 people could not stand together. At that time, people from over 12 countries came there," the minister further said.
"When the information was received, lots of people were removed from there and a lot had already moved before. Due to that maybe the number of cases increased in different states of the country," Harsh Vardhan said.
He said that different state governments and Home Ministry officials had helped a lot. "The contact tracing was done. But eventually, the number of cases rose and the lockdown was implemented. But there is no need to discuss that because a lot of people were traced, quarantined and treated," the minister further stated.
Hundreds of coronavirus cases and several deaths across the country were linked to the Markaz area in Delhi's Nizamuddin area, which emerged as a COVID-19 hotspot. Thousands of people from across the country and hundreds of foreigners had attended the congregation in March.
( With inputs from ANI )