Kishori Pednekar, Mumbai’s mayor, said on Saturday that people coming back from the Kumbh Mela in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar will have to be quarantined to prevent the spread of the coronavirus infection in the city, as the city is already struggling with rising cases of Covid-19. Millions of people from across the country have attended the spiritual gathering in Haridwar even as experts have raised concerns about the spread of more deadly variants of the disease during such events.
“I don’t know who has gone and who is coming back from the Kumbh Mela. But just like the event of our Muslim brothers in Delhi last year and 27 people added to the cases, those who are returning will spread the disease like prasad in every state and the situation will become worse,” she was heard saying in a video tweeted by news agency ANI.
Kishore Pednekar was relating to the gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat took at the time of the outbreak of the pandemic in Delhi in March last year and which was termed as a superspreader. Markaz was one of the first hotspots of Covid-19 in Delhi from where the police vacated 2458 people after a 36-hour drive on April 1, 2020. The Delhi Police charged 952 foreigners from 36 countries who took part in that gathering and stayed when the lockdown was forced in the country.
According to an official on Friday, 2167 people were found positive for coronavirus disease in Haridwar over the last five days. The Uttarakhand State Control Room said there were 254 Covid-19 positive cases on April 10, 386 on April 11, 408 on April 12, 594 on April 13 and 525 on April 14. Haridwar recorded 539 of 2402 fresh cases in Uttarakhand on Friday and 28 seers from three akhadas tested positive for Covid-19, officials said. Haridwar’s chief medical officer, Dr SK Jha, said around 75 sages have tested positive over the last two months. The rising cases urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to tweet and call to keep the religious gathering symbolic due to the pandemic.
“People should be faithful and it is correct but this is the time for shakti (strength). People should keep themselves safe, stay home, wear masks, wash hands and avoid going to crowded places. All this is shakti…” Kishore Pednekar said.
Mayor also said that Mumbai, which is among the worst-hit cities by the coronavirus disease, should be brought under a complete lockdown. “Ninety-five per cent of Mumbaikars are adhering to Covid-19 restrictions. The remaining 5% of people who are not following restrictions are causing problems to others. I think a complete lockdown should be imposed looking at the current Covid-19 situation,” Pednekar said, according to ANI.
Mumbai, already under a partial lockdown after chief minister Uddhav Thackeray imposed a 15-day curfew on Tuesday, on Friday reported 8803 Covid-19 cases and 53 fatalities, which have pushed its tally to 562,207 and death toll to 12,250.
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