Maharashtra, Punjab at loggerheads after Nanded gurdwara staff test positive for Covid-19

Shiv Kumar

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Tribune News Service

Mumbai, May 2

The authorities of Maharashtra and Punjab are at loggerheads after pilgrims returning home from Hazur Sahib Gurdwara, Nanded, tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.

While officials in Punjab blamed their counterparts in Maharashtra for not screening the pilgrims for the virus before they were sent back, district officials in Nanded said the virus was brought to the town by drivers of buses, who arrived from the northern state.

“The local authorities had arranged buses which ferried pilgrims to Punjab on April 23. Two drivers and an attendant had returned from Punjab on April 28 and had tested positive,” said Prashant Shelke, deputy collector, Nanded.

According to Shelke, three rounds of check-ups were conducted on the pilgrims living in the gurdwara before they were transported home. However, they were only checked for symptoms of Covid-19 and no swab samples were collected from any of them, according to the official.

The authorities have so far traced 13 close contacts of the three people, according to the official. The drivers and the attendant had partaken langar at the gurdwara and had come in contact with several ‘karsevaks’, added Shelke.

The district authorities have been collecting swab samples of people associated with the shrine and their close contacts for the past few days. While 25 tests have come negative, 20 samples have tested positive. Results of 52 people are still to be received as on Saturday morning, according to the collector.

So far, there are 26 cases of Covid-19 in Nanded, of which two patients have died.

Officials are still trying to trace the contacts of people who came in contact with the 90 gurdwara staffers, who were attached to langar activities. It is not clear how many people were served by them over the past few days since names and contact details of people, who come to partake of langar, are not collected.

According to district officials, a large number of migrants in Nanded partake of langar regularly following the closure of restaurants during the lockdown.

The gurdwara has now been closed and langar services have been suspended from Friday, according to officials here.

Reports from Punjab said as many as 130 pilgrims from Nanded, who were brought home in buses, have tested positive for COVID-19.