Haridwar Kumbh 2021: Holy city reports more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases over the past 48 hours

Amid ongoing Haridwar Kumbh, the holy city of Uttarakhand has reported more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases over the past 48 hours. This comes after a massive crowd of devotees were seen taking dips into the holy Ganges at the Mahakumbh festival.

At the Haridwar Kumbh Mela on Monday, as nearly 31 lakh people thronged to the Kumbh Mela for a holy dip in river Ganga at Haridwar's Har Ki Pauri, COVID-19 protocols went for a toss as devotees were seen without masks or maintaining any social distancing.

Over the past two days, Haridwar logged 1,002 new infections (408 on Monday, 494 on Tuesday), taking the city's active caseload to 2,812. 

According to medical department officials, over 18,169 devotees were tested for the COVID-19 virus between 11.30 pm Sunday and 5 pm Monday, of which 102 were found positive for the virus.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat has appealed to the devotees to follow COVID-19 guidelines during the third Shahi Snan on Wednesday of the ongoing Kumbh Mela in Haridwar.

This comes a day after all precautions were brazenly ignored during the holy dip on Somvati Amavasya that took place on Monday, sparking fears of a super-spreader.

The 2021 Haridwar Kumbh is estimated to attract one million people daily or around five million people on the three more auspicious days. Overall, the festival is estimated to attract between 100 to 150 million people.

It is for the first time in the history of the grand religious congregation, held on the banks of the Ganga in Haridwar once in 12 years, that its duration has been curtailed to just one month due to the pandemic. Usually, Kumbh is held for nearly four months.

Uttarakhand recorded its highest single-day spike of 1,925 COVID-19 cases and 13 deaths on Tuesday.