Tirumala mulls thermal screening for devotees as footfall dips
The temple, which sees around 60,000 visitors every day, has been receiving less footfall ever since the Covid-19 outbreak started
Tirupati: The authorities of 1700-year-old Lord Venkateshwara temple at Tirumala, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), has decided to implement restrictions on devotees to prevent spread of coronavirus due to the usual congestion at the temple site.
The number of positive cases reported in the country stands at 107, and a student was recently tested positive in Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore on Friday.
Many of the weekly and daily rituals will be cancelled, and number of people in queues will also be restricted.
The temple authorities have also decided to install thermal screening for devotees, and give out tokens to keep check on the number of people who come for darshan.
Much of the temple premises will also be sanitised every two hours.
Visitors who show symptoms of novel coronavirus disease will be kept out of Tirumala and put in quarantine at Ruida Hospital, the Devasthanam reportedly said.
The temple also facilitated options for devotees to cancel or reschedule their bookings, upto 31. NRIs and foreign nationals are requested not to visit the temple area for the next 28 days.
The temple, which sees around 60,000 visitors every day, has been receiving less footfall ever since the covid-19 outbreak started.