Amid COVID-19 fears, Sabarimala temple trust advises devotees to avoid visiting

Ahead of the upcoming March 13 opening of the Sabarimala temple, the Travancore Devasom Board (TDB) on Tuesday appealed to the devotees to avoid visiting the temple as a precautionary measure to avoid contracting or spreading the Coronavirus. 

While interacting with the media, TDB (the trust that governs Sabarimala) president N Vasu stated that since the Kerala government has announced to close down all the educational institutions for March and also advised people to avoid mass gatherings, so the trust has appealed devotees to avoid visiting the temple. He also stated that if any devotee comes unknowingly, then the trust is yet to take a call on if they should be allowed inside or not.

According to N. Vasu, all the religious activities that have to take place in the temple will take place as scheduled. During the upcoming opening of the temple, it will not be distributing its appam and payasam to the devotees as the counters will remain shut.

The famed Sabarimala temple is located in the Pathanamthitta district, where seven positive cases of Coronavirus have been reported. 

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Pathanamthitta District Collector appeals people to follow state government guidelines

Pathanamthitta District Collector P.B. Nooh has asked people to follow the state government guidelines. If anyone is caught violating the guidelines, then they will be produced under the Public Health Act and will face strict action. According to sources, 20 patients are currently under observation in Pathanamthitta, including a two-year-old child, and over a dozen are quarantined at Kochi, eight at Kollam, and a few others at Kottayam. The test results of these isolated people are expected to arrive by Wednesday evening. 

On Tuesday morning, Pathanamthitta streets reportedly remained empty, the Pathanamthitta district court was also shut for regular cases. The authorities have also advised the locals to postpone events like weddings as a precaution.

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Current situation of Coronavirus in India

India has reported 53 positive cases of the Coronavirus to date. India initiated required preparedness and action since January 17 at the field level, while WHO raised the level of global risk to a "very high" on February 20, 2020.

The whole number of people, who were diagnosed with COVID-19, has reached 109,343, including 80,904 people in China. So far, 3,123 people have lost their lives in China alone due to the virus. 110 countries from around the world have reported cases of the deadly Coronavirus. 

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