The BBC reported that the state of Punjab, India had to isolate 40,000 people from 20 villages because of a "super-infectious" case. The 70-year-old man died of the SARS-CoV-2 virus but he passed the disease on to 19 previous family members, becoming a "super-infectious" case.
Before his death, a man named Baldev Singh - a missionary - ignored the warning of the authorities on self-isolation after returning from a trip to Italy and Germany.
Instead, he participated in the Hola Mohalla festival. This festival lasts 6 days and attracts 10,000 participants every day.
A week after Mr. Singh’s death, 19 people in his home received positive results for Covid-19.
“So far, we have traced 550 people to interact directly with Mr. Singh and the number is still increasing. We have frozen 15 villages around where he lives, "a local senior official told the BBC . There were 5 other villages in the vicinity that were also cordoned off.
This is not the first time India has had a large-scale blockade following the discovery of Covid-19.
In Bhilwara in the state of Rajasthan, authorities isolated 7,000 people in villages due to concerns that a group of doctors who were infected with coronavirus from patients could spread the germs to others.
India is currently applying a 21-day national blockade in an attempt to stamp out the epidemic.
According to statistics of John Hopkins University (USA), India has 906 cases of Covid-19 and 20 deaths. However, experts are concerned that the number of cases may be larger because India is now one of the countries with the lowest test rates in the world, according to the BBC .
