Mad rush at Jagannath Temple prompts Covid tests for priests

BHUBANESWAR: The Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in Puri on Wednesday started a month-long drive to test the servitors for Covid-19, a week after it scrapped the mandatory rule for devotees to carry Covid negative certificates for being allowed into the shrine.
“We felt the need to conduct the test of servitors and other employees of the temple following the unrestricted entry of devotees to the shrine from January 21. Since the servitors are coming in contact with the devotees, we want to monitor their health condition. The timely and smooth conduct of the daily rituals of the deities depends on the well-being of the servitors,” temple’s administrator (development) Ajay Kumar Jena said. About 2,500 servitors of different Nijogs (associations of servitors) of the Jagannath Temple are likely to undergo the RT-PCR test. On the first day, the swab samples of the servitors of Suar Mahasuar Nijog were collected. The temple administration had on January 21 requested the health department to conduct a special Covid vaccination programme for the servitors in the wake of the risk of contracting the infection from devotees and vice versa. Until then, it was mandatory for devotees to carry a Covid negative report for entry into the temple, so this concern did not arise.
“We have not yet received any response from the health department about the proposed vaccination of servitors. Until the drive starts, it is better to make them undergo the Covid test,” another temple official said.
The apprehension of possible Covid transmission among servitors surfaced after the temple witnessed a huge rush of devotees on Monday and Tuesday. Against the daily target of allowing 30,000 devotees into the temple, over 50,000 visitors thronged the temple on each of the two days. Despite having a contingency plan to handle the rush of devotees, the administration failed to negotiate the unbridled crowd and enforce the social distancing norm.
“If we come across several positive cases among servitors during the test, we may impose restrictions again on the visit of the devotees. Steps are also being taken to deal with the rush,” a district administration official said.
At least 480 servitors had tested positive for Covid-19 and 10 of them died during the peak of the pandemic.
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