Religious leaders of various faiths in India held an inter-religious gathering this week to pray for an end to the pandemic.
“I felt immense pleasure in seeing the religious leaders of all the communities praying together,” said Biren Singh, head of the state government of Manipur.
“Each asked for divine intervention to alleviate the suffering of the pandemic,” said Singh in a report by AsiaNews.
The prayer initiative on Monday, June 7, was Archbishop Dominic Lumon of Imphal, in India’s Manipur state.
Manipur has a population of 2.85 million, mostly belonging to tribal groups. Majority of the people are Hindus, followed by Christians who make up 41 percent of the population.
“We continue to extend our support to help the administration in the collective fight against the virus,” said Archbishop Lumon.
Daily infections in India have fallen and officials aim to switch the focus to mass vaccinations.
India reported 86,498 new cases overnight, the lowest number in over two months and a sharp drop from a peak of around 400,000 a day in May.
India has been inoculating its people with AstraZeneca shots produced at the Serum Institute of India, and Covaxin made by Indian firm Bharat Biotech. It is set to commercially launch Russia’s Sputnik V in mid-June.
One reason for the low coverage is that supplies are tight.
