Coronavirus: Global situation: India
Modi calls for restraint in marking Hindu festival
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People preparing for the burial of relatives and friends who died from Covid-19 in New Delhi on Friday. The Indian capital led major cities across the country into a weekend lockdown yesterday as the country confronts a fierce new wave of the coronavirus.
PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
MUMBAI • Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday appealed to devotees to keep a key Hindu festival "symbolic" as the country reported more than 200,000 new coronavirus infections for the third straight day.
India reported 234,692 infections over 24 hours, taking the total number of cases there to about 14.5 million, second only to the number in the US.
Covid-19 deaths in the country rose by 1,341 to 175,649.
Criticism has mounted over the Indian government's handling of the health crisis, as religious festivals and election rallies continue amid increasing reports of the shortage of hospital beds, oxygen cylinders and vaccination doses.
After hundreds of thousands of ascetics and Hindus gathered for several days along the banks of the Ganges in a northern state for the Kumbh Mela religious festival, Mr Modi yesterday called for restraint, saying on Twitter that the festival should be kept symbolic.
Responding to Mr Modi's appeal, religious leader Swami Avdheshanand urged devotees not to gather in large numbers.
Devout Hindus believe bathing in the holy Ganges absolves people of sins, and that it brings salvation from the cycle of life and death during the Kumbh Mela.
Experts have warned about the spread of more contagious variants of the disease, especially during large-scale gatherings at religious festivals and political rallies.
Mr Modi was scheduled yesterday to hold two election rallies in the eastern state of West Bengal where state elections are ongoing.
In recent weeks, such rallies have attracted thousands of people, few of whom follow Covid-19 safety protocols.
"Stop spreader rallies," the Times of India said in an editorial yesterday, adding: "Business as usual is an unaffordable luxury until this virus is conclusively tamed."
After imposing one of the world's strictest lockdowns for nearly three months last year, India's government relaxed almost all curbs by the beginning of this year, although many regions have now introduced localised restrictions.
The per capita rates remain low by international comparison, but the speed at which cases are rising led the International Red Cross to call the South Asian surge "truly frightening".
New Delhi led major cities across India into a weekend lockdown yesterday as the country confronts a fierce new wave of the virus.
India now has three times the number of daily cases in the United States. After the national lockdown a year ago led to an economic slump, the Indian government is desperate to avoid a second stoppage.
But Delhi joined Mumbai in ordering all but essential services to close. Landmarks such as the historic Red Fort, where tens of thousands of people would normally gather, were deserted.
Police checked many of the cars that strayed onto the streets.
The city of about 20 million people now has the most daily cases in India and restaurants, malls and gyms were closed.
Weddings can go ahead, with guests limited to 50 people, while only 20 can attend funerals.
More than 1,600 people tested positive for the coronavirus in Haridwar in barely three days last week and experts fear that many devotees will take the virus back to their home towns and villages.
Uttar Pradesh state, home to some 240 million people, ordered a one-day lockdown for today.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
