15 out of 50 priests of Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam test COVID-19 positive, emergency meet called

Tirumala: As many as 15 of 50 priests of the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam were found COVID-19 infected while results of remaining 25 are awaited. The TTD will conduct an emergency meeting in light of the latest development.

So far, at least 91 TTD staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus. Till July 10, coronavirus tests were conducted for 1865 TTD employees at Tirumala, 1704 TTD employees at Aliiri, and for 631 devotees. 

On July 12, TTD Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal had held a meet with the devotees and media and had informed about the infection of 91 TTD employees.

"None of the devotees have any health issues. We have been enquiring over the phone with the devotees after their return to houses. We called 700 devotees between June 18 to 24 and called 1,943 devotees between July 1 to 7. All of them replied that they are healthy," he had said.

While, the Chittoor District Medical and Health Officer (DMHO) Dr Penchalaiah said that around 3,000 samples from pilgrims have been tested for coronavirus and so far all of them were negative.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that representatives of the TTD Staff and Workers United Fronthave written to the TTD Executive Officer requesting that darshan at the temple be temporarily suspended. 

The Tirumala temple reopened on June 11, after remaining shut for around 80 days.