COVID cases across India being traced to weeks-long Kumbh Mela

Dozens of cases across India being traced to mega Hindu festival held at the banks of Ganges in Haridwar last month.

New Delhi, India – Participating in the Kumbh Mela, or pitcher festival, a major Hindu pilgrimage in India, was a matter of devotion for 36-year-old Neetesh Dubey. A government teacher by profession, he travelled from central India’s Gyaraspur town in Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha district to Haridwar in the north in the second week of April to take part in the weeks-long festival held along the banks of the Ganges River. When Dubey arrived at the Kumbh, he developed a sore throat and chills which he mistook for flu. On April 17, Dubey and five of his friends boarded a train back to Gyaraspur.