Puri- Jagannath temple servants found infected with corona virus before rath yatra

Covid-19 has been confirmed in an investigation by a sevadar of Sri Jagannath temple in Puri, Odisha. The matter came to light during a mandatory Covid-19 investigation of temple priests and police personnel ahead of the annual Rath Yatra festival to be held on Tuesday, a senior official said. 

The officer said that the sevadar, who was found infected, would not be allowed to participate in any rituals related to the rath yatra. As per the guidelines of the Supreme Court, samples of 1143 sevadars were taken for examination on Monday night. The official said, except for one, no further investigation confirmed the infection. 

Servers found infected have been transferred to Covid-19 Hospital. The Supreme Court, while amending its earlier order, gave the permission to organize the Rath Yatra festival on Monday after the Odisha government gave the assurance. 

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The Odisha government had assured the court that the Rath Yatra would be conducted at a limited level and the public would not be allowed to participate in it. A temple official said that the ritual of bringing the idols of God from the temple to the chariot was performed this morning by the sevadars whose investigation did not confirm the Covid-19.