The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday said all religious institutions under its jurisdiction can allow entry of devotees who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as the active cases in the capital city doubled to what it was about a month ago.
With the city still reporting cases in three digits, the BMC officials said that enforcement teams will conduct frequent checks to ensure adherence of the guidelines across all religious places. “Considering the current pandemic situation and vaccination coverage, it is hereby decided that people who are fully vaccinated will only be allowed inside any religious institutions. A person producing hard copy or soft copy in their mobile phones will be allowed inside the institutions,” the BMC order said, a day after all the religious places, barring the Lingaraj temple, were allowed to open their doors to the devotees.
The insistence on Covid vaccination certificate in religious institutions of Bhubaneswar is the second instance when the authorities have made such certificates mandatory. The Jagannath temple in Puri, which opened its doors to devotees on August 16, also made it mandatory for devotees to have either a Covid vaccination certificate or a negative RT-PCR certificate.
But barring Puri’s Jagannath temple and religious places of Bhubaneswar, there is no insistence by the local administration on the Covid vaccination certificate or RT-PCR negative report before allowing the devotees. After the state government last month gave the liberty to the district administrations to decide on the date of opening of the religious places and protocols, most district administrations have only laid stress on Covid appropriate behaviours like wearing of masks, regular sanitisation and social distancing.
{{/usCountry}}But barring Puri’s Jagannath temple and religious places of Bhubaneswar, there is no insistence by the local administration on the Covid vaccination certificate or RT-PCR negative report before allowing the devotees. After the state government last month gave the liberty to the district administrations to decide on the date of opening of the religious places and protocols, most district administrations have only laid stress on Covid appropriate behaviours like wearing of masks, regular sanitisation and social distancing.
{{/usCountry}}In Balasore’s famous Khirachora Gopinath temple, the opening of the shrine on Tuesday saw around 100 people coming to the temple though at least 1,000 people visit the temple to see the idols of Krishna and partake the sweet kheer. Manager of the temple, Mukund Das, said while Covid vaccination certificate has not been made mandatory, they are not allowing pregnant women, people above the age of 60 and children below the age of 10 years.
“My biggest worry now is how to handle the crowd on Janmasthami on August 30, at least 5,000 people are likely to visit. Last year, we had no such worries as the temple remained closed and Janmasthami celebration was a tame affair. But this year, maintaining social distancing would be a tough task,” said Das.
In Koraput’s Jagannath temple, Sambalpur’s Samaleswari temple and Kalahandi’s Manikeswari temple too, Covid vaccination certificate has not been made mandatory.
Director of Public Health, Dr Niranjan Mishra said it would be inappropriate to comment on the decision of the respective district administrations on the opening of temples. “The Covid cases are on a decline in the state. The district collectors are the best people on the ground to take appropriate decisions,” he said.
But Dr Samiran Panda, head of the epidemiology division of the ICMR, said mere social distancing and wearing masks would not work in religious places where the congregation is a reality.
“Covid vaccination, social distancing and masking should be made mandatory in all religious places. Either this or that would not do. The vaccines are disease-modifying and do not prevent infections as we are seeing vaccinated people getting infected. In religious places, the authorities should allow only a particular number of people at any given time and there should be proper marking for each devotees,” said Dr Panda.
Several Indian states have made it mandatory for devotees to produce a Covid-19 vaccination certificate or a negative RT-PCR test report. In Ujjain’s Mahakaleshwar, temple devotees need a vaccination certificate or RT-PCR report while in Kamakhya temple of Guwahati, only 20 fully vaccinated persons are allowed to enter the temple in an hour as per the Assam government’s order.
However, the famous Balaji temple in Tirupati of Andhra Pradesh does not insist on a Covid vaccination certificate but allows only 6,000 devotees per day as against the normal rush of over 60,000.