Hookah behind 24 Covid-19 cases in Haryana's Jind village

JIND: The district administration has sealed Shadipur village of Julana town after 24 residents have tested positive for Covid-19. Apparently, a villager who returned from a wedding in Gurugram on July 8 and smoked hookah with his friends back home spread the infection. All the other 23 are his direct contacts. The panchayat has now banned hukkah smoking in the village.
The district health department officials sprung into action when the Gurugram returnee tested positive and got the tests done on his ‘hookah pals’. The villagers have now set up a committee to check hookah smoking and also started a sanitisation drive.
“When the Covid-19 cases suddenly increased in the village, we found hookah to be a major source of transmission of the virus. Hookah 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 told TOI on Sunday.
Station house officer of Julana police station, Surender Singh said, "We have sealed the containment zone as 24 people have been reported coronavirus positive within a week.”
Deputy civil surgeon Pale Ram Kataria said, “Some people who came for sampling from this village, told us that they used to smoke hookah with others.”