Fear as ‘super-spreader’ guru dies

DOLLAR-rich Punjab’s first coronavirus casualty is the elderly guru Baldev Singh.

But the virus that travelled with him from Germany and Italy survives.

And now the search for people who came in contact with him is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

So far, about 70% of the state’s Covid-19 positive cases have been traced to the super-spreader, Singh, a resident of Banga town in Nawanshahr district.

The 70-year-old died of a heart attack on March 18, but he was diagnosed with the virus after his demise.

About 30 000 people, who may have caught the virus from him, are being quarantined in northern India.

Singh had a mass following in villages in the Doaba region.

He also attended Hola Mohalla celebrations, which coincided with the Holi festival, in the Sikh holy town of Anandpur Sahib between March 8 and 10.

During his stay in Anandpur Sahib, he mingled with the people despite an advisory after landing in Delhi’s IGI Airport on March 7 that he remain at home.

Ten days after his death, Singh is suspected of infecting 27 people, comprising 14 family members.

Through contact tracing, the state government has been monitoring Singh’s acquaintances, mainly in Nawanshahr (renamed Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar), Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar districts, the hotbed of non-resident Indians (NRIs).

Local health authorities have self-quarantined around 30 000 residents who were linked to Singh.

Balbir Sidhu, the health minister, said 25 to 30 villages in Nawanshahr, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur, were sealed.

Earlier, the focus was only on those from affected areas overseas or in contact with positive cases. Many NRIs landed in hordes from Europe, the US and Canada with little intention to comply with the home quarantine advisory.