Giani Nirmal Singh, former Hazoori Ragi of Golden Temple, Amritsar passed away at around 4:30 am on early Thursday morning, due to coronavirus.
KBS Sidhu, Special Chief Secretary of Punjab Disaster Management earlier informed that Nirmal Singh had tested positive for coronavirus on Wednesday. Nirmal Singh, who would have turned 68 on April 12, has recently returned from the UK and was undergoing treatment at the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital in Amritsar. He was hospitalized on March 31 with complications of breathlessness and dizziness.
On March 29, tests were carried out in Shri Guru Ramdas Research Institute of Medical Sciences after which he was referred to the Guru Nanak Hospital for advanced diagnosis.
The local police have sealed the nearby residences of Nirmal Singh in Amritsar to contain the spread of the virus.
Nirmal Singh was the first ‘Hazoori Raagi’ of the Golden Temple to be bestowed with the Padma Shri award. He had held large religious gatherings in Delhi and some other places after returning from abroad.
Earlier in the day, four more tested positive for COVID-19 in Punjab. Of these, two are residents of Mohali, while one is from Jagatpura village — both located on the outskirts of state capital Chandigarh. The fourth case is from Ludhiana city, a contact of a positive case.
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Both the Mohali residents are relatives of an NRI couple from Chandigarh, who had recently tested positive. The latest cases are the grandmother and daughter of the couple.
“Three more positive cases in the district are close contacts of Chandigarh positive cases. They have been quarantined and contact tracing on. Will make containment zones as per the protocol,” Mohali Deputy Commissioner Girish Dayalan tweeted.
So far Punjab has recorded five coronavirus deaths.
