Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called on supporters to symbolically hold a key Hindu festival amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19 infections as the country reported more than 200,000 new cases for the third day in a row.
Criticism has grown over the Indian government’s handling of the health crisis as religious festivals and election rallies continue despite reports of a lack of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and vaccination doses. Read more
India has reported 234,692 COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to almost 14.5 million, second only to the United States.
Deaths from the disease increased by 1,341 to 175,649.
After hundreds of thousands of ascetics and devout Hindus gathered for several days along the banks of the Ganges for a Kumbh Mela religious festival, Modi on Saturday called for restraint, saying on Twitter that the festival should now be kept “symbolic.”
Responding to Modi’s call, one of the religious leaders, Swami Avdheshanand, urged his followers not to gather in large numbers. Believing Hindus believe that bathing in the holy Ganges absolves people of sin and, during the Kumbh Mela, brings salvation from the cycle of life and death.
Those returning to Mumbai in western Maharashtra from Kumbh Mela will be quarantined in hotels, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar said. Maharashtra accounts for a quarter of coronavirus cases in India and is the most affected region.
Experts have warned of the spread of more contagious variants of the disease, especially during large-scale rallies for religious festivals and political rallies.
On Saturday, Modi was scheduled to hold two rallies in the eastern state of West Bengal, where state polls are taking place. In recent weeks, such rallies have attracted thousands of people, few of whom follow the COVID-19 safety protocols.
“Stop the rallies,” the Times of India said in an editorial on Saturday, adding, “Business as usual is an inaccessible luxury until this virus is finally tamed.”
COVID-19 daily vaccinations in India have slowed from a record high earlier this month and many state governments have called for more doses.
Federal Health Minister Harsh Vardhan assured that there were no shortages and that 11.6 million doses would be available in a week, adding that 125 million doses had already been administered.
Some state governments in India have expressed concern about the hoarding and blackmail of the antiviral drug Remdesivir. Read more
Nawab Malik, a Maharashtra minister, has accused Modi’s federal government on Twitter of restricting the supply of Remdesivir to the state. A minister in Modi’s cabinet, Mansukh Mandaviya, denied the accusation, saying adequate supplies were being arranged.
After imposing one of the strictest blockades in the world for almost three months last year, the Indian government relaxed almost all borders in early 2021, although many regions have now introduced localized restrictions.
“This is Narendra Modi’s biggest crisis to date. It is bigger than any security threat, external or internal, or even the economic trump card of 2020,” Shekhar Gupta, editor and commentator, wrote in a column on Saturday. political.
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