PATNA, Dec 27: Twelve foreigners have tested covid positive in Bodhgaya in
the last few days. They are among the thousands of people who have come for
an international Buddhist congregation from December 29 to 31 to be addressed
by Buddhist spiritual leader Dalai Lama. About a lakh people are likely to attend
the programme from within the country and abroad.
Three of the positive cases are from Taiwan, 4 from Thailand, 4 from Myanmar
and one is an American who came via Bangkok. Many more foreign visitors are
undergoing RT-PCR tests at the designated hospital. Random samples of locals
are also being tested.
Only some of the infected who were tested at the international airport could
be quarantined and others did not wait for the result and freely mixed with
the huge crowds, it is reported. Samples of the isolated have been sent for
genome sequencing.
Many of the foreigners are coming from countries listed as highly infective
like Thailand.
And, most of the visitors are from Myanmar, Thailand and Nepal. Myanmar and
Thailand are Buddhist countries.
Omicron sub-variant BF.7 sweeping China has spread to Japan, South Korea, Hong
Kong and Thailand.
As per the new guidelines issued by the Central Government in view of the sudden
surge in covid cases in neighbouring China, random covid tests are being conducted
at all international airports in the country since last Saturday. Moreover,
for international travellers from places high in infections like China, Japan,
South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand RT-PCR, covid testing has been made mandatory.
These passengers are required to upload their RT-PCR reports in advance before
undertaking the travel to India.
It is also feared the foreign visitors may go on pilgrimage to other popular
Buddhist sites across the country risking widespread infection. Gaya is one
of the major sites. Every year, a large number of tourists come to India to
visit Buddhist sites.
Buddhist sites in India
The main Buddhist sites are:- Bodh Gaya, where Lord Buddha, born as Prince
Siddhartha of Lumbini in Nepal, attained enlightenment at Gaya’s Mahabodhi in
Bihar and came to be known as the Buddha 2,500 years ago. The Mahabodhi temple
complex is today a UNESCO World Heritage Site; Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh, near
Varanasi, is where Buddha delivered his first sermon to his five disciples;
Kapilvastu in Uttar Pradesh; Rajgir in Bihar; Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh, the
site of Buddha’s mahaparinirvana (death)
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