Hookah party becomes cause of COVID-19 outbreak in Haryana; here's the story

Guwahati: A hookah party has reportedly become the cause for the spread of the coronavirus in Shadipur village of Julana town in Haryana, where 24 people have tested positive. As a consequence, the Jind district administration in Haryana has sealed the entire village.

Evidently, a villager came from a wedding in Gurugram on July 8 and smoked hookah with his friends, which became the cause of the spread of the virus. The other 23 who tested positive for the virus came into contact with him.

When the Gurugram returnee tested positive, immediate action was taken by the district health department officials and tests were conducted on his 'hookah pals'.

After the initial period of shock was over, the villagers now have built up a committee to check hookah smoking and also started a sanitation 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 said.

Station house officer of Julana police station, Surender Singh said that they had sealed the containment zone as 24 people had been reported coronavirus positive within a week.

Deputy civil surgeon Pale Ram Kataria said some of the people also used to smoke hookah with others, who came for sampling from that village.

As of now, over 18 lakh in India have been affected by COVID-19; nearly 40,000 deaths have been reported in the country so far.

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