Italy-Returned Super-Spreader 'Guru' In Punjab Has Put Over 15,000 At Risk Of Coronavirus

A 'guru' in Punjab, who has been tagged as a 'super-spreader' has put at least 15,000 people at a risk of coronavirus infection.

The 70-year-old guru, Baldev Singh, who died on March 18, had returned from a trip to Europe's virus epicentre Italy and Germany when he went preaching in more than a dozen villages in Punjab state.

This has sparked a serious alert for Indian authorities who are fighting the global pandemic.

afp

Singh was the first coronavirus casualty reported in Punjab. According to news agency IANS, the second death reported in the state on March 28, was of a man who was in close contact with Singh.

They had returned from Germany and Italy and mingled freely with the people despite advisory on landing in Delhi''s IGI Airport on March 7 for isolation at home.

Harbhajan Singh, 62, died Sunday night and was a resident of Hoshiarpur town. He was undergoing treatment at Government Medical Hospital in Amritsar.

afp/representational image

Both -- Baldev Singh and Harbhajan Singh -- were ''granthis'', the keeper and the reader of the Sikh scripture.

Harbhajan Singh''s wife, son and daughter-in-law and a neighbour have been undergoing coronavirus treatment at Hoshiarpur.

Medical history of Harbhajan Singh says he was diabetic and suffering from hypertension.

An IANS report mentions that approximately 70 per cent of state's COVID-19 positive cases have been traced to ''super spreader'' Baldev Singh, a resident of Banga town in Nawanshahr district who died owing to a heart attack, but was diagnosed to be coronavirus positive after his death.

afp

Close to 40,000 people in 20 villages have been asked to stay in self-quarantine.

Baldev Singh is suspected to have infected 27 people, comprising his 14 family members.

Apprehending major outbreak, the state government has been closely monitoring through contact tracing Baldev Singh's acquaintance mainly in Nawanshahr, renamed Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar districts, the hotbed of NRIs.