Punjab Man Who Died Of COVID-19 Infected 23, Met 100s; 15 Villages Sealed

A coronavirus patient who died in Punjab on March 18 is believed to have spread the virus to at least 23 of the state's 33 cases.

The 70-year-old man, a Gurudwara priest, had returned from a two-week tour of Germany and Italy with two friends from neighbouring villages and had defied self-quarantine rules to socialize heavily earlier this month.

He arrived on March 6 at Delhi and then drove to Punjab.

Officials tracking his movements and those he may have infected learnt that he had attended an event at Anandpur Sahib in March 8-10 and returned to his village in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar district.

He met close to 100 people before being tested positive for coronavirus. He and his two travel companions are believed to have visited 15 villages across the state.

In his family, 14 have tested positive. His granddaughter and grandson each met scores of people.

Officials are going from village to village tracing every person who may have been exposed to COVID-19 because of the reckless socializing of the three men.

It is believed that the three caused coronavirus positive cases in Nawanshahr, Mohali, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar.

Across India, there are nearly 700 coronavirus cases and 17 have died.