Kumbh effect: 60 out of 61 Kumbh returnees test positive for COVID in Madhya Pradesh

As India has been struggling to fight the second wave of Coronavirus, a frightening situation has surfaced from Madhya Pradesh. Out of the 83 returnees of the Kumbh Mela, 22 were untraceable, and at least 60 out of 61 tested were found to be COVID positive, a report in The News Minute stated.

The Kumbh Mela congregation was held between April 11 and 15 in Haridwar, Uttarakhand amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The News Minute quoted health officials as saying, that a total of 83 people returned to Gyaraspur in Vidisha district on April 25. However, officials have not been able to trace 22 of them.

60 Kumbh returnees who tested positive for COVID-19 were told to stay in home isolation and report if they face any complications. Till now, five of the returnees have reported COVID complications and were moved to COVID care centre.

The Kumbh Mela this year witnessed approximately seventy lakh devotees, despite the spread of coronavirus pandemic, the report stated.

Held over three months in normal circumstances, the Kumbh Mela this time formally began as late as April 1 and concluded on April 30 due to surge in COVID-19 across the country.

The Social Media was flooded with reports and visuals showing sheer mismanagement and breaking of all COVID-19 norms such as social distancing, wearing a mask etc.

India is still recording more than three Lakh cases and more than three thousand deaths.

Various states have announced strict home isolation and quarantine measures for returnees from the Kumbh.

Delhi, has announced that all those who returned from the Mela would have to go through 14 days of home quarantine, and violators would face legal action.

Many other states in India are grappling with a deadly second wave of COVID-19 infections, and had announced that Kumbh returnees would be mandatorily tested, traced and quarantined, apart from having to upload details such as their address, contact number, ID proof, dates of departure and arrival on a government portal.