Devotees flock Prayagraj for Magh Mela amid surge in COVID cases

Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 13 (ANI): Amid the rising COVID-19 cases in the country, the saints and devotees flocked the Magh Mela premises in Prayagraj on the occasion of the Makar Sankranti.
The first bathing festival will be held on January 14 and 15 where hundreds and thousands of people are expected to take a holy dip in the Ganges river.
"Cases have increased in the Mela ground. On Wednesday we saw 246 cases here and 16 jawans have tested positive already", said Sanjay Goel, District Commissioner.
As the authorities fear flouting of social distancing norms in the Mela, they have asked the police to continuously announce COVID-19 protocols and keep a watch on the devotees. Meanwhile, the authorities said that 16 jawans have tested positive and 246 COVID-19 cases were reported on Wednesday.
At the same time, the seers are also seen urging people to wear masks and maintain social distancing. Bhagwan Das, a regular at Magh Mela said, "We are following social distancing and wearing a mask in the Mela."
There are 9 mobile testing centres through the Magh Mela premises for contact tracing. Besides this, there are general testing centres that are doing COVID-19 tests, informed the District Commissioner.
"The state government is providing testing kits to people with symptoms and they are also advised to isolate themselves" added Goyal. "We have also asked the OPDs to take care of symptomatic people and collect their samples for the COVID-19 test."
Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath has also appealed to the people to follow COVID-19 protocols strictly and at the same time asked the state officials to ensure that the COVID-19 norms are followed.
"Devotees with fever, cold should not participate in the event. Those symptomatic or those not doubly vaccinated should not attend the fair", said the Chief Minister who faces re-election in the coming months. (ANI)