HARIDWAR, India (Reuters) – Hundreds of thousands of ashes smeared with ashes and devout Hindus took a bath in the Ganges during a religious holiday on Wednesday, hoping to wash away their sins as India reported another increase in coronavirus infections.
As large crowds headed towards the river on a special bathing day during the week-long “Kumbh Mela” festival, health authorities had to remove a test team from COVID-19.
“We have moved our sampling equipment away to avoid a stampede-like situation,” said SK Jha, chief physician of the northern city of Haridwar, where the event is being held.
“Of course, we expect cases to increase as priests and others move away.”
Police said 650,000 devotees had been bathing in the river since Wednesday morning and people were fined for not observing social distancing in some areas.
Infections in the city have already risen to more than 500 a day since Kumbh Mela, or the pitcher festival, officially began this month, from just 25 to 30 last month, Jha said. Hotels have become isolation shelters for those infected by a team of 300 medical professionals who perform 40,000 randomized tests daily.
India’s new COVID-19 cases reached a record 184,372 in the last 24 hours, more than double the figure at the beginning of the month.
The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, has refused to call off the festival which is scheduled to last all month, possibly out of fear of a reaction from the religious leaders of the Hindu-majority country.
“He is already a super broadcaster because there is no room to test hundreds of thousands in a crowded city and the government has neither the facilities nor the manpower,” a senior Uttarakhand state official said. where Haridwar is located.
Devout Hindus believe that bathing in the sacred Ganges exempts people from sins and, during the Kumbh Mela, brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.
Within walking distance of the river, Hotel Sachin International had become a COVID isolation center. The 72 rooms were full of more than 150 patients, a hotel executive said.
“We started welcoming patients on April 5 and three days ago all the rooms were filled,” said the employee, who was no longer identified due to a gag order from local authorities.
The hotel did not respond to any emails seeking comments. A doctor in the region said at least four more hotels have been converted into COVID rooms.
“What you’re seeing isn’t Kumbh Mela, it’s a crown atom bomb,” said Indian filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma, next to an image of a sea of devotees. “I wonder who will be responsible for this viral explosion.”
Reports by Anushree Fadnavis and Neha Arora; Additional reports from Saurabh Sharma; Edited by Krishna N. Das and Giles Elgood