FACT CHECK: Health Department Clueless About How Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa Became Infectious

CHANDIGARH, Punjab—As the news of Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa’s positive coronavirus report broke on April 1, several media outlets reported that he had returned from England. Media outlets could not verify the fact as all of Bhai Nirmal Singh’s family members were taken into custody to get them quarantined.

However, a mild reaction came about Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa’s claimed visit to England but it was not possible to rely upon the reactors and the mainstream media reports got accepted for the time being.

With his demise today, the reality of such reports also started surfacing over social media and it came to fore that Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa was in India at least since February-2020.

A post by Mehkma Punjabi page reveals that Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa’s paternal Uncle and Aunt had come to India from abroad on March 3. As soon as the Punjab Health Department got apprised of it on March 7, his paternal Uncle-Aunt and his whole family were quarantined. This quarantine period completed on March 17 and none of them depicted any symptom for coronavirus.

On March 19, Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa went to perform Kirtan in a house situated in Sector-27 A Chandigarh where he spent about an hour.

On March 20, he came back and complained of cough-cold. He took medicine from the Government Medical College, Amritsar. The Doctors prescribed him medicines but he didn’t recover following which he started taking ailment from Guru Ram Das Medical Science Institute.

On March 30, he was admitted to Government Medical College and his report for coronavirus came positive on April 1.

Today, he passed away during the wee hours after being put on a ventilator yesterday.

The octogenarian paternal uncle-aunt of Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa, who had come to India on March 3, has not depicted any symptom of coronavirus. If they had brought this pandemic along with them then they must have shown symptoms.

So, the doctors are speculating that Bhai Nirmal Singh Khalsa got infected with coronavirus during his visit to Chandigarh on March 19. But still, there is no clarity.