A top Kumbh Mela official said on Saturday that it is inappropriate to call it a Covid “super-spreader” as only 0.2 per cent of the total RT-PCR tests conducted in Haridwar from 1 January reported positive results till the conclusion of the event, while Only 0.5 percent of the police personnel on duty contracted the virus.
Mela IG Sanjay Gunjyal also said the religious event formally began on April 1 by which time the second wave of Covid was already raging in states like Maharashtra and Haryana.
“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,” Gunjyal told PTI.
Gunjal was in charge of the entire security arrangements in Haridwar and adjoining areas during the Kumbh mela. The senior official mentioned 8.91 lakh RT-PCR tests were conducted in the district from January 1 to April 30 out of which only 1,954 (0.2 percent) were positive.
Ponting another reason why the Kumbh Mela cannot be considered a super-spreader event, Gunjal said out of over 16,000 police personnel deployed in the Kumbh Mela Kshetra only 88 (or just a little above 0.5 per cent) had tested positive for Covid by April 30.
“It is a fact worth taking note of as the security personnel on duty were directly dealing with the crowds converging at Har ki Pairi and other Ganga ghats for a holy dip in the river. In spite of that, a very low percentage of security personnel tested positive,” Gunjyal said.
During the notified period of Kumbh from April 1-April 30, swab samples of 55,55,893 people were tested for Covid out of which 17,333 tested positive, he said.
The Kumbh Mela, which is attended by people from different parts of the country in large numbers, drew flak from various quarters as the number of COVID-19 cases rose at a rapid pace.