Religious places are now emerging as Covid-19 hotspots in the country with more and more people serving in the places of worship testing positive for the invisible virus. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), one of the wealthiest temples in India, has been infested with coronavirus with more than 800 employees of the temple tested positive so far. Now Sri Satyanarayana Swamy Temple, popularly known as Annavaram Devasthanam, has recorded a single-day spike of 50 cases and test results of another 200 people are awaited.
Last Saturday, at least 39 employees working in Annavaram Devasthanam were tested positive for Covid-19. Among these 39 employees, at least 12 priests were there. Darshans have been temporarily suspended in the temple till 23 August.
TTD executive officer Anil Kumar Singhal said, “743 staff of the TTD tested positive for Covid -19. Three including former chief priests have succumbed to the virus. 402 persons have recovered from infection while 338 people were undergoing treatment at different Covid care facilities.”
He further informed that Covid has also affected Annavaram Temple which is one of the busiest temples in Andhra Pradesh and famous for Hindu weddings. The officials also don’t have any clue how the coronavirus hit the temple but Annavaram Temple is located in East Godavari district which has become the hotbed for the Covid-19. Pertinent to mention coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh have been on a steady rise. The state has crossed 2.5 lakh Covid-19 cases with more than 10,000 cases being reported on each day.