Punjab: Dead coronavirus patient's contact trail touches 22

 A trail of coronavirus community spread to 22 people related to a 70-year-old man who died last week, with one more diagnosed positive in Punjab on Wednesday, health officials said.

They all comprised family members of Baldev Singh, who had a travel history to Germany via Italy, from S.B.S. Nagar district from where 18 people tested positive, all belonging to his family.

The latest positive case is a man whose father from Hoshiarpur also tested positive. Six of Baldev Singh's family members were tested positive a day earlier.

His family members who were diagnosed positive comprised his three sons, two daughters-in-law, two daughters and seven grandchildren.

S.B.S. Nagar Deputy Commissioner Vinay Bublani said the administration has sealed the villages from where the patients belonged to prevent the further spread of the virus.

Baldev Singh, the first death in the state, had landed at Delhi airport on March 7, and proceeded to Punjab the same day.

Doctors said he had diabetes and hypertension and was confirmed as COVID-19 positive on March 18.

As Punjab's coronavirus cases spiked to 31, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday asked authorities to give the highest importance to tracing all international passengers who arrived after March 10 to prevent the virus' spread.

He directed the Health Department and the police to ensure further monitoring of those already traced and placed under home quarantine.

The Chief Minister's fresh directive assumes significance as over 94,000 NRIs have returned to the state and 30,000 of them were placed in isolation. IANS