India: Man becomes COVID-19 super-spreader and infects 23 after smoking shisha with friends in Haryana village

A resident of India’s Shadipur village, in the state of Haryana, who returned from a wedding in Gurugram on July 8 and smoked shisha with his friends back home has spread coronavirus to at least 23 people.

According to local media reports, the district administration has sealed the village in Julana town after the residents tested positive for COVID-19.

All the 23 people were directly in contact with the man, Indian news outlets reported. The village council has now banned shisha smoking in the area.

Reportedly, the villagers have also set up a committee to check if anyone is smoking shisha and also started a sanitisation drive.

“When the COVID-19 cases suddenly increased in the village, we found shisha to be a major source of transmission of the virus. Shisha smoking is a common practice in villages and has to be avoided to check the COVID-19 outbreak,” Jind civil hospital senior medical officer Gopal Goyal was quoted as saying on August 2.

Station house officer of Julana police station, Surender Singh was quoted as saying: "We have sealed the containment zone as 24 people have been reported coronavirus positive within a week.”