For the past two months, liberals and Hindu-baiters have been relentlessly ranting over how the Kumbh Mela held at Haridwar this year turned into a super spreader event – leading to Covid-19 infections spiral all over the country. However, according to a top Kumbh Mela official quoted by PTI, it was unfair to call Kumbh a Covid “super-spreader” as just 0.2 per cent of the total RT-PCR tests conducted in Haridwar from January 1 till the conclusion of the event returned a positive result, while just 0.5 per cent police personnel on mela duty contracted the virus.
“If we scientifically analyse the Covid data of Haridwar district right from January 1 to the conclusion of Kumbh on April 30, attempts to create a perception that Kumbh was a super-spreader of the pandemic look unfair,” Mela IG Sanjay Gunjyal. The official was in charge of the massive security arrangements in Haridwar and adjoining areas during the Kumbh Mela.
Gunjyal made his assertions based on solid facts and outrightly dismissed the possibility of Kumbh Mela being a super spreader event. He said 8.91 lakh RT-PCR tests were conducted in Haridwar district from January 1 to April 30 out of which only 1,954 (0.2 per cent) were positive. It must be remembered that Kumbh formally began on April 1. Pointing to additional data, Gunjyal said out of over 16,000 police personnel deployed in the Kumbh Mela Kshetra, only 88, or 0.5 per cent had tested positive for Covid-19 by April 30.
Data also points towards the fact that Kumbh was not a Covid-19 hotspot, leave alone a super spreader event. The senior official was also quoted as saying, “It is a fact worth taking note of as the security personnel on duty were directly dealing with the crowds converging at Har ki Pauri and other Ganga ghats for a holy dip in the river. In spite of that, a very low percentage of security personnel tested positive.”
All entrants into Uttarakhand travelling from across the country to attend Kumbh were required to produce a negative Covid RT-PCR report conducted not before 72 hours of arrival. If the report was not available, arrangements were made to test all entrants at the various entry points of Uttarakhand, and only if the travellers tested Covid-negative were they allowed to proceed to Haridwar. Sanitiser dispensers had been set up at Har Ki Paudi and special Covid-19 isolation centres were also set up.