bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Bloomberg

Agence France-Presse

Hindu priests at a temple in southern India are saying daily prayers to two coronavirus goddesses in an effort to tame the pandemic as the country battles a new surge of infections.
Two “Corona Devi” idols have been set up in the southern city of Coimbatore, which is badly hit in an outbreak that has killed 100,000 people nationwide in the past four weeks.
The Kamatchipuri Adhinam temple is shut to worshippers because of the city’s high infection rates, but priests are paying tribute in front of the goddesses, one made of sandalwood and the other from stone.

They leave food and other offerings, chant prayers urging an end to the pandemic and bathe the idols in turmeric water and milk.
“We have had similar temples for smallpox, chickenpox and plague in the past,” said temple manager Anandbharathi K.
“We are worshipping the virus in the form of a Goddess and praying to her every day to reduce the impacts of this disease.”
Hong Kong’s Indian diaspora mobilises to send help amid Covid-19 crisis
While case numbers are easing in much of India, the country of 1.3 billion people has been shocked by the severity of the latest wave of the pandemic, which overwhelmed hospitals and led to critical shortages of oxygen and medicines.
“Even doctors are unable to deal with the enormity of the situation. So, we turn to faith and God as a last resort,” Anandbharathi said.


Doctors and nurses on India’s pandemic front lines say they have been pushed into physical and mental exhaustion as they fight to keep their patients alive.
Mousimi Das had to treat her own mother in her Kolkata hospital as countless patients including a colleague’s father died around her, working 48 hours in one stretch without a break.
She has one message for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“We are exhausted, frustrated, and depressed,” Das said over phone, her voice breaking with fatigue. “Please see us. Please hear us. If you don’t listen to doctors, nurses and staff working on the ground, you will never be able to improve the health infrastructure.”

More than 1,200 doctors have lost their lives so far in a country that has reported nearly 27 million Covid-19 cases, according to a toll maintained by the Indian Medical Association.
India on Thursday posted 211,298 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, while deaths from Covid-19 rose by 3,847.
The South Asian country’s overall caseload is now at 27.37 million, while total fatalities are at 315,235, according to health ministry data.
Additional reporting by Reuters


Philippine cockfighting still soars even as feathers are ruffled over job losses

Pragmatic Southeast Asia will adapt to Trump’s ‘America first’ agenda

China-Canada direct flights to ‘surge’ to meet demand as talks yield results

What actually matters in Hong Kong’s push for Muslim visitors?

Coronavirus pandemic

Hindu priests turn to ‘corona goddesses’ as India’s doctors pushed to brink

A Hindu priest performs a prayer ritual in front of an idol locally known as ‘Corona Devi’ in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Photo: AFP

In this picture taken on May 19, 2021, a priest (L) performs Aarti, a prayer ritual in front of an idol locally known as 'Corona Devi', believed to be safeguarding people from the Covid-19 coronavirus at Kamatchipuri Adhinam temple in Coimbatore. (Photo by - / AFP)

Employees work in a Covid-19 'war room' set up at a Municipal Corp. of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) building in Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. Mumbai's Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal attributes the city's successes to quell its outbreak faster, and with fewer casualties than other parts of the country, partly to a decentralized system his team set up during the first wave, which included neighborhood war rooms to manage cases by locality. Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg

Coronavirus: Indian airline SpiceJet feels heat as couple flout rules with mid-air ‘wedding’ attended by 160 people

The groom, Rakesh, and his bride, Dakshina.

An image from WhatsApp shows the packed flight on which the mid-air wedding ceremony took place.

Why is India facing a coronavirus vaccine crunch and can it ramp up production?

Workers pack boxes containing vials of Covishield, a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine, at the Serum Institute of India in Pune. Photo: AP

Volunteers arrange beds made out of cardboard to be used by Covid-19 coronavirus positive patients as they convert a hall of a spiritual organisation into a Covid-19 coronavirus care centre on the outskirts of Amritsar on May 22, 2021. (Photo by NARINDER NANU / AFP)

Indian seafarers left in limbo as coronavirus restrictions create chaos in shipping industry

Illustration: Ka-kuen Lau

FILE PHOTO: Container ships are loaded at a container terminal in the harbor amid the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Hamburg, Germany, March 29, 2021. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer/File Photo

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - MAY 07: In an aerial view, an APL container ship pulls into the Port of Oakland on May 07, 2021 in Oakland, California. The Port of Oakland reported a record high in cargo traffic volume between January and March of this year with 631,119 20-foot shipping containers compared to 612,151 set in the first quarter of 2019. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/AFP == FOR NEWSPAPERS, INTERNET, TELCOS & TELEVISION USE ONLY ==

FILE- In this Jan. 21, 2021, file photo, employees pack boxes containing vials of Covishield, a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine at the Serum Institute of India in Pune, India. India, the world’s largest maker of vaccines, was expected to play a pivotal role in global efforts to immunize against COVID-19. But its own capacity is proving to be insufficient for its own massive needs amid a ferocious surge of new infections. In past weeks, many people wanting to get vaccines have been turned away. Experts say that this is due to bad planning. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File)

Will ‘self-reliant’ India’s second wave of Covid-19 force a rethink on China ties?

Labourers wearing protective face masks wait for transport to work in Hyderabad, India. Photo: AP

A worker at a garment factory in Tiruppur, in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Photo: Reuters

A shopkeeper at a garments shop in New Delhi, India. Photo: AP

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo: AFP

News

Asia

South Asia

Coronavirus


Two coronavirus goddesses have been set up in the southern city of Coimbatore, which is badly hit in the country’s latest Covid-19 wave
Hindu priests are leaving food and other offerings, chanting prayers, and bathing the idols in turmeric water and milk



Two coronavirus goddesses have been set up in the southern city of Coimbatore, which is badly hit in the country’s latest Covid-19 wave.


Hindu priests turn to ‘corona goddesses’ as India’s doctors pushed to brink

Two coronavirus goddesses have been set up in the southern city of Coimbatore, which is badly hit in the country’s latest Covid-19 wave Hindu priests are leaving food and other offerings, chanting prayers, and bathing the idols in turmeric water and milk

Two coronavirus goddesses have been set up in the southern city of Coimbatore, which is badly hit in the country’s latest Covid-19 wave

Hindu priests are leaving food and other offerings, chanting prayers, and bathing the idols in turmeric water and milk