The last 'shahi snan' at the Kumbh Mela in Haridwar on April 27 was a subdued affair with seers keeping the ritual symbolic in view of a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases.
However, the symbolic 'snan' proved to be little late to prevent a disaster from happening after the Mahakumbh kicked off in Haridwar, Uttarakhand.
Uttarakhand has registered an appalling 1,800 per cent spike in active cases between March 31 and April 24, which coincided with the Haridwar Mahakumbh.
Prior to the Mahakumbh, the total active cases stood at 1,863 (March 31), but they quickly ballooned to 33,330 by April 24.?
One of two persons undergoing RT-PCR tests in Kolkata and its suburbs is turning out to be COVID-positive.
In the rest of the state, one of four RT-PCR reports is COVID positive.
This is a five-fold jump from the beginning of the month, when only one of 20 tests was positive.
Polling for third phase of panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh concluded on April 26, however as many as 135? teachers, 'shiksha mitras' and instructors have died in the past 10 days due to confirmed COVID and COVID- like symptoms after performing panchayat election duty in the state, according to Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh (RSM), a national level outfit of primary school teachers.?
The Allahabad high court has taken judicial notice of the deaths.
Hearing a PIL, a division bench comprising Justice Siddhartha Varma and Justice Ajit Kumar further directed the state election commission to ¡°take immediate measures in remaining phases of panchayat elections to ensure Covid guidelines are compiled with, else action would be taken against officers involved in the election process.¡±
The high court has also issued a show-cause notice to the Uttar Pradesh State Election Commission, asking why it failed to enforce COVID protocols during polls and prosecute those responsible for violations.
¡°It appears that neither the police nor Election Commission did anything to save the people on election duty from getting infected by the deadly virus,¡± the order said.