Indians Celebrate Festival of Lights amid COVID Fears
2021-11-05
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1Indians began celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, on Thursday.
2The celebration comes as the country is still dealing with the coronavirus pandemic as well as rising air pollution.
3Diwali is usually celebrated by socializing and exchanging gifts with family and friends.
4Many light oil lamps or candles as a sign of the victory of light over darkness.
5They also set off fireworks as part of the celebrations.
6Last year, the celebrations were limited following a sharp increase of COVID-19 infections.
7The celebrations seem to be returning this year even though the government has asked people to avoid large gatherings.
8In the northern city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state, people lit over 900,000 lamps and kept them burning for 45 minutes on Wednesday.
9Last year, the city lit about 600,000 lamps.
10Along the Saryu River, thousands of visitors ignored coronavirus social distancing restrictions to watch the lights.
11People lit up their houses and temples as lasers and fireworks brightened the city's streets.
12The festival is being celebrated at a time when India's pandemic crisis has largely decreased.
13On Thursday, the country recorded over 12,000 new coronavirus cases and 461 deaths.
14Earlier this year, India recorded a few hundred thousand new infections every day.
15The Health Ministry reported more than 35 million infections and over 459,000 deaths in the country so far.
16Last month, India injected its one billionth COVID-19 vaccine, giving hope that life is returning to normal.
17More good news came Wednesday when the World Health Organization approved India's home-grown Covaxin vaccine for emergency use.
18Still, experts have warned that the festival season could bring a sharp increase in infections if COVID-19 health measures are not enforced.
19There are also worries over air pollution, which covers northern India under a dark smog as temperatures drop and winter settles in.
20On Diwali night, people also lit up the sky with fireworks adding to the pollution that could take days to clear.
21I'm Ashley Thompson.
1Indians began celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, on Thursday. The celebration comes as the country is still dealing with the coronavirus pandemic as well as rising air pollution. 2Diwali is usually celebrated by socializing and exchanging gifts with family and friends. Many light oil lamps or candles as a sign of the victory of light over darkness. They also set off fireworks as part of the celebrations. 3Last year, the celebrations were limited following a sharp increase of COVID-19 infections. The celebrations seem to be returning this year even though the government has asked people to avoid large gatherings. 4In the northern city of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state, people lit over 900,000 lamps and kept them burning for 45 minutes on Wednesday. Last year, the city lit about 600,000 lamps. 5Along the Saryu River, thousands of visitors ignored coronavirus social distancing restrictions to watch the lights. People lit up their houses and temples as lasers and fireworks brightened the city's streets. 6The festival is being celebrated at a time when India's pandemic crisis has largely decreased. 7On Thursday, the country recorded over 12,000 new coronavirus cases and 461 deaths. Earlier this year, India recorded a few hundred thousand new infections every day. The Health Ministry reported more than 35 million infections and over 459,000 deaths in the country so far. 8Last month, India injected its one billionth COVID-19 vaccine, giving hope that life is returning to normal. More good news came Wednesday when the World Health Organization approved India's home-grown Covaxin vaccine for emergency use. 9Still, experts have warned that the festival season could bring a sharp increase in infections if COVID-19 health measures are not enforced. 10There are also worries over air pollution, which covers northern India under a dark smog as temperatures drop and winter settles in. On Diwali night, people also lit up the sky with fireworks adding to the pollution that could take days to clear. 11I'm Ashley Thompson. 12The Associated Press reported this story. Hai Do adapted it for Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor. 13______________________________________________________ 14lamp - n. a device that produces light 15candle - n. wax that has been formed into a stick or another shape and has a string in the middle that can be burned 16fireworks - n. small devices that explodes to make a display of light and noise 17smog - n. a cloud of dirty air from cars, factories, etc., that is usually found in cities