40,000 people are quarantined after ONE ‘super spreader’ preacher, 70, in India

40,000 people are quarantined after ONE ‘super spreader’ preacher, 70, caused Indian coronavirus outbreak following trip to Italy

  • Twenty villages in Punjab put in isolation after Baldev Singh returned from Italy
  • Mr Singh, 70, visited Germany before going home for Hola Mohalla Sikh festival
  • He died from coronavirus and a week on 19 members of his family tested positive
  • It comes three days after India announced a ‘total lockdown’ for 1.3billion people
  • Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?

Around 40,000 have been quarantined in India after a ‘super spreader’ preacher returned from coronavirus-stricken Italy.

Up to 20 villages in Punjab have been forced into isolation after Baldev Singh got back from the Mediterranean country and died of the deadly bug.

The 70-year-old also visited Germany before going home for the Hola Mohalla Sikh festival, which sees crowds of up to 10,000.

Police personnel stop commuters to advise them to stay home during a government-imposed lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, in Amritsar on Tuesday

Member of Parliament (MP) Gurjeet Singh Aujla (centre right) and Amritsar Improvement Trust Chairman Dinesh Bassi (centre left ) clean a street during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, outside Amritsar Improvement Trust in Amritsar today

Member of Parliament (MP) Gurjeet Singh Aujla (centre right) and Amritsar Improvement Trust Chairman Dinesh Bassi (centre left ) clean a street during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, outside Amritsar Improvement Trust in Amritsar today

Up to 20 villages in Punjab (pictured, Amritsar) have been forced into isolation after Baldev Singh came back from the Mediterranean country and died of the deadly bug

Up to 20 villages in Punjab (pictured, Amritsar) have been forced into isolation after Baldev Singh came back from the Mediterranean country and died of the deadly bug

Mr Singh, who had reportedly flouted advice to stay at home, was revealed to have died from coronavirus in a postmortem and a week later 19 members of his family tested positive.

An official told the BBC: ‘So far, we have been able to trace 550 people who came into direct contact with him and the number is growing. We have sealed 15 villages around the area he stayed.’

Five villages have also been put in lockdown in a neighbouring district. Punjab makes up 30 of the 640 coronavirus cases in India.

Mr Singh, 70, also visited Germany before going home for the Hola Mohalla Sikh festival, which sees crowds of 10,000 each day. Pictured: Volunteers distribute fruits to people in Amritsar, Punjab

Mr Singh, 70, also visited Germany before going home for the Hola Mohalla Sikh festival, which sees crowds of 10,000 each day. Pictured: Volunteers distribute fruits to people in Amritsar, Punjab

On Tuesday the country announced a ‘total lockdown’ for its 1.3billion people in the world’s largest stay-at-home order to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Prime minister Narendra Modi announced the ‘total ban on venturing out of your homes’ in a televised address.

The 21-day lockdown began at midnight in a measure which Modi said was intended ‘to save India and every Indian’.

He said if the country failed to manage the next 21 days, it would be set back 21 years.

After his speech, Modi urged Indians to avoid the panic-buying which many Western countries have witnessed, as a government order confirmed stores would remain open.

The measure means more than 2.6billion people worldwide are in lockdown – half of them in India.

Health experts have warned a big jump in cases in the country could be imminent, which would overwhelm its underfunded public health infrastructure.

Some researchers have warned more than a million people in India could be infected with the coronavirus by mid-May.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk