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Pune docs tick ‘no Holi’ to prevent Coronavirus
The festival will be celebrated on March 9 (Holika Dahan) and March 10
Pune: With the Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelling Holi Milan celebrations and Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray appealing to people to skip Holi and Dhuli Vandan on Panchami, the doctors in the city too have advised residents to avoid crowded places and big events and take precautions by skipping Holi this season.
The festival will be celebrated on March 9 (Holika Dahan) and March 10.
According to the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Pune chapter president Dr Sanjay Patil, “Holi is a close contact festival and Covid-19 (coronavirus) could spread at such social gatherings. Hence, such large social gatherings should be avoided.”
He said that Holi is a festival of colour and water, which could be dangerous as the virus remains alive on wet surfaces. Hence, he advises that people should avoid being a part of large parties. “If they are still going to any of these events, I suggest keeping their hands dry and avoid close contacts,” he said.
Dr Sanjay Gaikwad, professor, head of Pulmonary Diseases, BJ Medical College said, “People should strictly avoid going for open air big crowded events and spaces during Holi and, if possible, give it a miss, but if the young still want to play, then it would be better if celebrate with family and close friends who then know have not travelled to any of the affected countries.” 
He said that as a precaution, it will be better if residents maintain a distance while playing, and avoid going to big events if there is even a hint of cold, fever or cough. The advice from doctors have come after the CM appealed to people to avoid being a part of crowded places on Holi.
Holi sees a lot of colour entering into mouth, ears and eyes too and sometimes causes irritation which has often seen many Holi frolickers complain after, this time though, according to Dr Abhijeet Mantri, ENT specialist, “Playing Holi is going to be risky as this virus is a droplet infection and falls on surfaces around you. Hence, better to avoid any kind of mass gathering.”
Kunal Jain, co-founder of Linkin Minds and organiser of Pune Colour Festival 3.0, said that a number of precautions have been taken to reduce the Covid-19 scare.
“We have organised the event at The Orchid Hotel Baner and ensured that alcohol-based hand sanitisers are provided to all the customers. The rain dance setup will have a system that kills bacteria,” he said.
Co-organiser Trupti Anand said that participants are being allowed to carry their colours. “We are making it mandatory to sell colours which are only organic and vegetable and lab-certified. As another precaution, we are also restricting foreigners; entry,” she said.
