Haridwar Kumbh Mela sees over 1,700 COVID-19 cases in 5 days

Confirming fears of a rapid rise in coronavirus cases, 1,701 people have been tested positive for COVID-19 in the Haridwar Kumbh Mela from April 10 to 14. Medical workers conducted 2,36,751 tests over the five days in the Kumbh Mela area.

India on Thursday reported 2,00,739 COVID-19 cases and has been reporting over 1 lakh daily cases for more than one week.

More than 48 lakh people took part in the Haridwar Kumbh Mela's first Shahi Snan Somwati Amavasya on April 12 and the second Shahi Snan Mesh Sankrantion on April 14.

On both bathing days, people were seen openly violating COVID norms like maintaining social distancing and wearing face masks. There will also be a third Shahi Snan on April 27.

The Haridwar Kumbh Mela, which is being attended by lakhs of people every day, is being held at a time when India is battered by a rapidly spreading second wave of COVID-19.

The Kumbh Mela area is spread over 670 hectares covering parts of Haridwar, Tehri and Dehradun districts, including Rishikesh.

Shambhu Kumar Jha, Haridwar's Chief Medical Officer, said, total COVID cases in the Kumbh Mela include both RT-PCR and Rapid Antigen Test reports of devotees and seers of different ascetic groups over the five days in the entire area.

Jha said that more RT-PCR test reports are awaited and the trend shows that the number of infected persons in the Kumbh Mela site is likely to climb to 2,000.

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