India Religious Guru Went on to Preach to 15K People Before Dying of COVID-19

By
Siti Hawa
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A religious guru in northern India has since been described as a “super-spreader” guru of the coronavirus after an incident.

As a result, at least 15,000 people might have been exposed to the coronavirus and are under strict quarantine in northern India.

India Religious Guru Went on to Preach to 15K People Before Dying of Covid-19

It seems like every day, chilling news pertaining to the coronavirus crops up every other day at another part of the world.

This time it’s India but it’s not as surprising anymore because we all know the highly contagious nature of the COVID-19.

It all began when a 70-year-old guru named Mr Baldev Singh had come home from a trip to Europe’s virus epicentres, Italy and Germany, when he preached to more than a dozen villages in Punjab state.

As a result, India has had to raise one of its most serious alerts regarding the coronavirus.

The situation is so serious that they’ve even had to arrange for special food deliveries to each household.

This is considered to be an even tighter restriction compared to the 21-day nationwide stay-at-home order that was implemented by the government.

Regular Monitoring and Medical Teams On Standby

Mr Gaurav Jain, a senior magistrate for the district of Banga where Mr Singh lived said, “the first of these 15 villages was sealed on March 18, and we think there are 15,000 to 20,000 people in the sealed villages.”

“There are medical teams on standby and regular monitoring,” he said on 27 March.

And the measures aren’t for show either. There have already been 19 people who have tested positive for the coronavirus, said Mr Vinay Bublani, a local deputy Police commissioner.

They are currently waiting for the results of 200 other people.

Mr Singh Has Passed Away Due To The COVID-19

The guru, Mr Singh, and his two associates tested positive for the coronavirus.

However, they had not adhered to self-isolation measures when they came home from Europe and went on their preaching tour.

In the midst of their preaching tour, Mr Singh fell ill and died. Needless to say, this fatal case has shocked India.

It had also prompted a popular Punjabi singer based in Canada named Sidhu Moose Wala to release a song about Mr Singh that has been received over 2.3 million views on YouTube in a short span of fewer than 2 days.

The song ‘Gwacheya Gurbaksh’ (literally, the lost Gurbaksh) is based on the way in which the 70-year-old, who had landed in Punjab from Germany via Italy on 7 March, had gone around to spread the coronavirus despite having been told to quarantine himself at home.

The song seeks to highlight the importance of social distancing in the fight against the coronavirus.

“I passed on the disease… roaming around the village like a shadow of death,” say the lyrics to the song.

You can listen to the song here:

How He Spread The Virus & Difficulty In Doing Contact Tracing 

Baldev Singh was a religious preacher with a history of diabetes and other illnesses.

He met thousands of people since he came home from abroad.

He had also attended Hola Mohalla, a crowded festival that is held yearly at Anandpur Sahib.

His family has not escaped it either as at least seven members of Baldev Singh’s family has tested positive for the coronavirus.

There are currently 873 confirmed coronavirus cases and 19 deaths in India, which is significantly lower than a lot of countries.

However, experts warn that this may be because many infections have not been detected due to a lack of testing.

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Siti Hawa
Email: [email protected]