Mumbai's Siddhivinayak Temple provides hand sanitisers to devotees amid COVID-19 outbreak

In its bid to mitigate outbreak of coronavirus, Siddhivinayak Ganapati temple in Mumbai is providing hand sanitizers to devotees coming for 'darshan' as a precautionary measure. This development comes as World Health Organisation (WHO) declared coronavirus a pandemic and Europe as its epicentre with more reported cases and deaths than rest of world combined, apart from China. 

Aadesh Bandekar, chairman of temple's Trust spoke to ANI and apprised about precautions being taken by temple trust and added that temple floors and hand railings are being cleaned and sanitized frequently.

"We have made arrangements for devotees coming for darshan to prevent coronavirus infection. We are asking everyone to take precautions. Every devotee is being provided with a hand sanitizer while entering temple premises," Bandekar said.

" temple floors and hand railings are being cleaned and sanitized frequently. number of devotees has gone down significantly but whoever is coming, we are taking precautions for m," he added.

Meanwhile,  total number of positive cases in India has risen up to 82 and two deaths have been reported so far. 

READ: Coronavirus: Celebrations to mark 3rd anniversary of BJP govt in U'khand postponed

Varanasi temple priest puts face masks on deities

In a similar move, a priest of a temple in Varanasi has put face masks on deities and appealed devotees to t touch idols.

"Coronavirus has spread across country. We have put a mask on Lord Vishwanath to raise awareness about coronavirus. Just like we put clos on idols when it is cold and put ACs or fans when it's hot, we have put masks on deities," temple priest Krishna Anand Pandey said last week.

READ: Virender Sehwag issues mess for those who tice Coronavirus symptoms; appeals to m

Coronavirus Outbreak

As of today, total number of positive cases in India has risen up to 88, with two deaths have been reported in Kalaburagi and West Delhi respectively. 

First detected in Wuhan in December 2019, COVID-19- vel coronavirus has affected nearly 118 countries in world. Presently, there are over 1,24,518 confirmed cases of COVID-19 which has led to death of over 5,000 people. As re is vaccine or specific antiviral medicine to treat COVID-19, countries have been grappling with all possible mechanisms to contain its spread. So far, China, South Korea, Italy, and Iran have witnessed most number of confirmed cases of vel coronavirus.

READ: From Tom Hanks to NBA players: List of celebrities who have contracted coronavirus

READ: Angrezi Medium BO: Despite Coronavirus scare, Irrfan Khan's film emerges a winner on Day 1

(With Inputs from ANI)