Amid the rising coronavirus COVID-19 cases in Gujarat and other parts of the country, the Vijay Rupani-led government in the state has decided to not organise Navratri festival this year.
“The nine-day traditional state-level Navratri festival, organised by the state government every year will not be celebrated in the larger public interest due to the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic situation this year,” an official communique quoted CM Rupani as saying.
It is to be noted that the festival is expected to be held between October 17 and October 25. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had started the state-level garba function at Ahmedabad's GMDC Ground when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. In 2019, PM Modi had participated in the festival and had also performed ‘aarti’ at the GMDC ground.
Meanwhile, Gujarat reported 1,419 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the total tally to 1,31,808. The total death toll due to COVID-19 in Gujarat has been 3,409.
A total of 1,419 patients were discharged in Gujarat on Saturday, taking the total number of recoveries to 1,11,909. The COVID-19 case recovery rate in Gujarat is 84.90 per cent. The state now has 16,490 active cases.
In a related development, the World Health Organization said on Friday that the global death toll from COVID-19 could double to 2 million before a vaccine to control the disease hit the market. The WHO also warned that the death toll could be even higher without concerted action to curb the outbreak of deadly virus.
