(ANSA) - NEW DELHI, 11 JAN - Alarm in the Indian state of West Bengal, where the authorities predict that almost one million people will gather on Friday and Saturday at the confluence of the Ganges River with the Bay of Bengal to immerse themselves in the waters, on the occasion of the annual MakarSankrati festival .
At the request of the Order of Doctors, alarmed by the inevitable super outbreak that will be created by the religious gathering, while the third wave of contagions runs across the country, the High Court of Calcutta decided last Thursday that all pilgrims must have a negativity test. alcovid-19. The doctors had turned to the court asking to stop the pilgrimage.
Bhramar Mukherjee, who teaches epidemiology at the University of Michigan, tweeted that India "should learn from past mistakes" and that "the gathering risks having disastrous consequences," citing what happened a year ago with other mass pilgrimages.
Unlike Bengal, the government of Delhi, one of the cities most affected by the third wave, with a positive rate of 25.65 per cent, today decided to close all bars and restaurants to the public, authorizing only home deliveries;
in addition, in the capital, all private offices will remain closed, with employees obliged to smart working.
According to the daily bulletin of the Ministry of Health, India yesterday saw a further jump in the new positive alCovid19, with 179,723 cases recorded in 24 hours, and 146 deaths: the figure is the highest in 204 days.
(HANDLE).