Latest Coronavirus news in India: Despite outbreak, biggest congregation of women takes place in Kerala temple

Latest Coronavirus news in India: Despite outbreak, biggest congregation of women takes place in Kerala temple

Health authorities have mounted a special drive in the district to detect any possible cases.

K RAVEENDRANUpdated: Sunday, March 08, 2020, 01:54 PM IST
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Twitter/@axidentaljourno

The whole of Kerala is keeping fingers crossed as the world’s biggest congregation of women takes place at what is known as Ponkala Mahotsavam at the Attukal Devi temple even as members of a family arriving from Italy have been tested positive for Coronavirus in the latest reported case.

A three-member Malayalee family of father, mother and son from Italy arrived at the Nedumbassery airport by a Qatar Airways flight on Saturday night and straightaway headed for their home in Pathanamthitta district without reporting to the health authorities.

But by Sunday morning they showed symptoms of the virus attack and promptly tested positive. Two family relatives were also found affected. All five have been isolated and are being shifted to the Kottayam Medical College, about 150 km from the state capital. All the passengers in their flight are also being contacted by the respective district administrations.

Health authorities have mounted a special drive in the district to detect any possible cases. All those who have come into contact with the affected patients are being isolated and investigated. Health minister K K Shailaja addressed an urgently called press conference where she along with other senior health ministry officials appealed to people to report anyone with travel history.

The minister, however, did not forget to remind people that suppression of information about the disease and possible cases would be treated as a punishable offence, although she asserted that the overriding priority was on saving lives.

The minister also announced elaborate arrangements for the safe conduct of the Ponkala festival. Anyone with symptoms of cough and cold or fever has been advised not to participate in the annual festival at Thiruvananthapuram’s Attukal, known as women’s Sabarimala.

Attukal Ponkala found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records in 2009, when 20 lakh women were recorded as participating in the festival, in which devout women cook rice in small pots lined up along all the roads in the temple neighbourhood as an offering to the goddess Attukal Devi, who the devotees believe grants every wish. In recent years, up to 40 lakh women are believed to turn up for the annual ritual.

There have been suggestions from a section of doctors and experts that the festival must be cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 threat and the possibility of people with symptoms taking part in the ritual. There is also a protocol issued by the Union Health Ministry, advising people to stay away from public gatherings.

The Kerala government, however, decided that the temple authorities could go ahead with the festivities as cancellation would have caused panic and that the authorities are ready with an effective protocol to identify and isolate any possible cases. Also, the decision was taken on the basis of the fact that no new positive cases were being reported in the state.

Kerala has an impressive track record in handling virus attacks, including the deadly Nipah virus for two consecutive years. The state has also earned praise for the way it handled the coronavirus threat, after the first three cases of the virus attack in the country was reported here.

The latest case of five new patients reporting positive to the deadly virus seemed to come as a dampener and yet the authorities are confident that they are equipped to handle any situation. The authorities have appealed to all sick people to stay away and possibly conduct the rituals at home.

Strict monitoring of the crowd, including video-taping, is being organised to detect any sick person. Crowd control systems are being continuously sanitised to ensure that that there is no contamination.

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