Thread by @FLAHAULT

1/9 - “Millions of Hindus have gathered on the banks of India’s sacred Ganges river to celebrate the Kumbh Mela, even as health officials warned that the country’s health system was at serious risk from surging #COVID19 cases.”
ft.com/content/1b50e4…

2/9 - “Public health experts feared the month-long festival, which is expected to draw tens of millions of pilgrims to the temple town of Haridwar in Uttarakhand province, will accelerate infections. Cases have already risen sharply across the country in recent weeks.”

3/9 - “It’s obviously a matter of great concern,” said K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India, a charity. “Any large gathering of people has the potential to be a superspreader event.”

4/9 - “Tirath Singh Rawat, Uttarakhand’s chief minister and a member of PM Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party, has downplayed the risks. He has insisted “faith is stronger than fear”, adding that “religious sentiments needed to be given priority” over health concerns.”

5/9 - “Rajesh Bhushan, at the health ministry, blamed the surge since the middle of Feb on people crowding together in public places or events without masks or social distancing.
He urged police to crack down on such events and ensure “Covid-appropriate behaviour.”

6/9 - “India has sent more than 64m doses of locally produced vaccines to more than 80 countries, although the pace has slowed after New Delhi blocked exports as it sought to bolster its domestic vaccination programme.”

7/9 - “India on Thursday opened eligibility for vaccinations to all adults over the age of 45, as it sought to accelerate its sluggish inoculation campaign, which began in January.”

8/9 - “The country has administered just 63m doses among its 1.3bn people. Many public health experts feel India missed an opportunity to vaccinate more aggressively when cases were falling.”

9/9 - “[Sujatha Rao, a former Indian health secretary] said the campaign should have targeted the hardest-hit regions rather than focusing on the elderly. “They should have saturated virus-affected areas, rather than spreading the vaccine thinly around the country,” she said.”