Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called on devotees to symbolically celebrate an important Hindu festival amid concerns over the spread of COVID-19 infections as the country has more than 200,000 new cases for ‘ a third day reported.
Criticism has increased over the handling of the health crisis by the Indian government as religious festivals and election rallies continue despite reports of shortages of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and vaccination doses. read more
India has reported 234,692 COVID-19 infections over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to nearly 14.5 million, the second to the United States.
Deaths from the disease rose by 1,341 to 175,649.
After hundreds of thousands of ascetics and religious Hindus gathered for a few days along the banks of the Ganges for a religious festival Kumbh Mela, Modi on Saturday asked to be kept in check and said on Twitter that the festival should now be held ‘symbolically’.
One of the religious leaders, Swami Avdheshanand, responded to the call of Modi and urged devotees not to gather in large numbers. Pious Hindus believe that the bath in the holy Ganges relieves people of sin and during the Kumbh Mela brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.
Those returning from the Kumbh Mela to Mumbai in western Maharashtra will be quarantined in hotels, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said. Maharashtra is responsible for a quarter of India’s coronavirus cases and is the region worst affected.
Experts have warned about the spread of more contagious variants of the disease, especially during large gatherings for religious festivals and political rallies.
On Saturday, Modi would hold two rallies in the eastern state of West Bengal where state surveys are underway. In recent weeks, such rallies have attracted thousands of people, few of whom follow COVID-19 safety protocols.
“Stop the distribution rallies,” the Times of India said in an editorial on Saturday, adding: “Business as usual is an unaffordable luxury until this virus is finally tamed.”
India’s daily COVID-19 vaccinations declined from their record highs earlier this month and many state governments have demanded more doses.
Federal Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has given assurances that there is no shortage and that 11.6 million doses would be available within a week, adding that 125 million doses have already been administered.
Some state governments in India have expressed concern about the storage and black marketing of antiviral drug Remdesivir. read more
Maharashtra minister Nawab Malik accused Modi’s federal government on Twitter of restricting Remdesivir’s supplies to the state. A minister in Modi’s cabinet, Mansukh Mandaviya, denied the allegations, saying adequate supplies were being arranged.
After the Government of India introduced one of the strictest closures in the world for almost three months last year, the Government of India has relaxed almost all curbs, although many regions have now imposed localized restrictions.
“This is Narendra Modi’s biggest crisis yet. It is bigger than any security threat, external or internal, or even the economic downturn of 2020,” prominent editor and political commentator Shekhar Gupta wrote in a column on Saturday.
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