LUCKNOW (Reuters) -India reported on Monday a daily record of 168,912 infections with COVID-19, the world’s highest, as concerns grew as hundreds of thousands of devotees gathered to make a ritual bath on the river Ganges.
India now accounts for one in six daily infections worldwide. Monday’s new cases went through Brazil, with an overall total of 13.53 million, according to data collected by Reuters, which places it second after the United States, with 31.2 million.
A full opening of India’s economy after last year’s parallel shutdown, massive religious holidays and political rallies in state-held elections have worsened a second wave of infections, experts say.
In the northern city of Haridwar, about a million devotees stretched along the Ganges, a river that many Hindus consider sacred, to join the “Kumbh Mela” or jug festival that lasts for months, with the risk of increased infections.
“The crowd here is growing … the police are making an ongoing call to people to maintain social distancing,” police official Sanjay Gunjyal told Reuters.
Few wore masks as they threw themselves into a bath in the waters on a day that is considered auspicious in the Hindu calendar.
Authorities have forced virus testing on those entering the area, where officials said they were fighting to stop the crowds.
Elections are also to be held in four major states this month, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi traveling to East West Bengal to address rallies that will attract thousands of people.
“With 1.2 million active cases and the daily figure reaching 200,000, it is rare to have rallies and a full Kumbh Mela,” political commentator Shekhar Gupta said in a Twitter post.
“This will deepen the virus in small towns and cities. This is the calamity we dodged with a paralyzing blockade in the first wave. Now we invite him to come back. “
A total of 904 deaths overnight was the highest since Oct. 18, with a total of 170,179, according to the data.
RICHEST STATE PLANS BLOCKED
Officials in the hardest-hit state of Maharashtra, where the financial capital of Mumbai is located, said they were considering a wider closure after major closures over the weekend.
The state, India’s industrial hub, recorded 63,294 new infections on Sunday, caused by an increase in its key cities: Mumbai, Nagpur and Pune.
“The (infection) cycle needs to be broken,” said a senior state official who attended a meeting with state leaders on Sunday and sought anonymity.
“We are working on identifying the industries and services that need to be exempted.”
The state is one of many that has demanded more doses of vaccines for vaccination campaigns. India has injected more than 100 million doses since mid-January, the highest figure after the United States and China, but much lower as a proportion of its population than many countries.
As cases have increased, India has banned the export of remdesivir antiviral drugs and their active ingredients, which doctors have used to treat patients.
(Global Vaccination Follower: here)
(Interactive graphic monitoring of the global spread of coronavirus: here)
Reports of Rajendra Jadhav, Saurabh Sharma; Additional reports from Suchitra Mohanty and Rama Venkat; Written by Neha Arora; Edited by Sanjeev Miglani