Punjab’s first casualty of novel coronavirus till date — 70-year-old Nawanshahr-resident Baldev Singh — has infected at least 27 of the total 38 cases (amounts to 70 percent) reported in the State. The cases included his two daughters, three sons, two daughters-in-law, seven grandchildren, his relatives and friends and further their family members.
Punjab on Friday recorded five new cases, including four who directly or indirectly carried infection from Baldev Singh. “The new cases are reported from Jalandhar, Mohali and SBS Nagar districts. All five were cases of local transmissions, having acquired the infection from already identified cases,” said Vipul Ujwal, the member of the State Control Room.
The new cases include a 27-year-old man from Jalandhar who is Baldev Singh’s relative. The three more tested positive in Hoshiarpur’s Moranwali village were also in close contacts of Baldev Singh’s earlier contact Harbhajan Singh, who had previously been tested positive. Harbhajan Singh’s wife, his daughter-in-law and his neighbour have been tested positive.
The septuagenarian Gurudwara priest had travel history of Germany and returned to India via Italy on March 7. From New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, he, along with two others, drove to his native Pathawala village the same day. Rather than self-quarantining himself, Baldev Singh continued to mingle with people, visiting places, and even attending religious events.
Baldev Singh, a priest at local gurudwara, even participated in the Hola Mohalla festival at Sri Anandpur Sahib from March 8-10, and then returned to his village. It was only a day after his death on March 18 due to cardiac arrest, that his positive status was known.
There are reports that he met nearly 100 people before being tested COVID-19 positive. Baldev Singh and the other two men, who had travelled with him, reportedly visited 15 villages across the State — spreading infection.
Nawanshahr Deputy Commissioner Vinay Bublani said that the administration has sealed the villages from where the patients hailed in a bid to prevent the COVID-19 spread.
Another case was reported from SAS Nagar (Mohali) which is also a contact case of a positive case.
Ujwal said that all the positive cases were stable, and all their close contacts have been put under quarantine and are being monitored. Their swabs have been taken for testing.
So far, samples of 789 suspected cases have been sent for testing, of which 480 came back negative, and reports of 271 cases are awaited.
The 38 confirmed cases are so far from five districts in Punjab — maximum 19 from SBS Nagar (Nawanshahr), six cases from Mohali, five from Jalandhar and six from Hoshiarpur and one each from Amritsar and from Ludhiana. No confirmed case has been reported the other 16 districts.
In another development, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has announced that the state’s first coronavirus patient, who had travelled to Italy, has tested negative and will be discharged later today. He was undergoing treatment at Amritsar government hospital.
“Happy to share that our first case of COVID admitted to Government Medical College Amritsar has successfully recovered and tested negative,” he tweeted, adding that “The patient will be discharged today. It's a great moment for us. I am sure we will win this War Against #Covid19”.
Punjab had recorded its first positive case for coronavirus on March 9.
