While there were over 50,000 COVID-related deaths in the last 20 days leaving experts to wonder if the second wave was more lethal, during a mini lockdown, in Gujarat, thousands of women crowded up at a religious event in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad district to “eradicate coronavirus.” This video going viral on social media was a massive gathering in Navapura village in Sanand Taluka on May 3, showing women carrying water pots on their heads walking towards Baliyadev Temple. Men took these pots to the top of the temple and started emptying them.
After the video clip went viral on Wednesday, the Gujarat rural police rushed to the spot and arrested 23 people, including the village head. A police officer said villagers believed that coronavirus will just go away if water is poured on the Baliyadev temple.
Police had also seized the music system from the spot,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police, Sanand Division, KT Kamariya. He said all the accused have been booked for violating a police announcement regarding public gatherings under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code and the Disaster Management Act and the Epidemic Diseases Act.
In view of the flood of COVID-19 cases, the Gujarat government had forbidden all kinds of public gatherings in the state, which was not followed. As of Tuesday, Gujarat’s overall COVID-19 tally stood at 6,20,472 with 7,779 fatalities, the state health department had said.
Such gatherings are food for the virus, and it is also suspected by experts that India is due for a third, far more lethal wave in the middle of May. A lot can be prevented by careful planning and following COVID norms.
It was terrible that this happened at the surge of the second fatal wave when the country is fighting the surge in COVID-19 cases, which would automatically put more burden on the hospitals.
The most fatal pandemic bubonic plague recorded in human history caused the death of 75–200 million people, called the Black Plague monstrously took away lives without mercy. It is said the plague ended through the implementation of quarantines and lockdowns.
Thousands thronged a religious #festival in #Sanand without masks and #social #distancing even as the #Gujarat government has imposed a #Mini #Lockdown till May 12#Covid #Covid19
Video Source : Amit Mishra @Amitjanhit pic.twitter.com/9XLZULJ40U
— Ahmedabad Mirror (@ahmedabadmirror) May 5, 2021