<p>One of the servitors of Shree Jagannath Temple here tested positive for COVID-19 during mandatory testing of priests and police personnel ahead of the annual Rath Yatra on Tuesday, a senior official said.</p>.<p>The servitor will not be part of any ritual related to the Rath Yatra, he said.</p>.<p>Samples of 1,143 servitors were tested on Monday night, as per directives of the Supreme Court.</p>.<p>"Except one, reports of all the others came out negative. The servitor who tested positive has been shifted to a COVID-19 hospital," the official said, adding that contact tracing has been initiated.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-news-live-updates-indias-tally-crosses-4-lakh-toll-jumps-to-12825-851629.html">Track live updates on coronavirus here</a></strong></p>.<p>Modifying its earlier order, the apex court on Monday gave the go-ahead for the Rath Yatra after taking note of the Odisha government's assurance that it "can be held in a limited way without public attendance".</p>.<p>Each chariot would be pulled by not more than 500 people and all of them have to test negative for coronavirus, the top court said.</p>.<p>It also directed that those engaged in pulling the chariots shall maintain social distancing before, during and after the Rath Yatra.</p>.<p>The rituals involve three chariots -- Lord Jagannath's Nandighosh, Lord Balabhadra's Taladwaja and Devi Subhadra's Darpadalan.</p>.<p>'Pahandi' (procession where the deities are carried from the temple to the chariots) was carried out in the morning by servitors who tested negative for COVID-19, a temple official said.</p>.<p>"All entry points into Puri -- airports, railway stations, bus stands -- shall be closed during the period of Rath Yatra festival," the Supreme Court had said in its order.</p>
<p>One of the servitors of Shree Jagannath Temple here tested positive for COVID-19 during mandatory testing of priests and police personnel ahead of the annual Rath Yatra on Tuesday, a senior official said.</p>.<p>The servitor will not be part of any ritual related to the Rath Yatra, he said.</p>.<p>Samples of 1,143 servitors were tested on Monday night, as per directives of the Supreme Court.</p>.<p>"Except one, reports of all the others came out negative. The servitor who tested positive has been shifted to a COVID-19 hospital," the official said, adding that contact tracing has been initiated.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/national/coronavirus-news-live-updates-indias-tally-crosses-4-lakh-toll-jumps-to-12825-851629.html">Track live updates on coronavirus here</a></strong></p>.<p>Modifying its earlier order, the apex court on Monday gave the go-ahead for the Rath Yatra after taking note of the Odisha government's assurance that it "can be held in a limited way without public attendance".</p>.<p>Each chariot would be pulled by not more than 500 people and all of them have to test negative for coronavirus, the top court said.</p>.<p>It also directed that those engaged in pulling the chariots shall maintain social distancing before, during and after the Rath Yatra.</p>.<p>The rituals involve three chariots -- Lord Jagannath's Nandighosh, Lord Balabhadra's Taladwaja and Devi Subhadra's Darpadalan.</p>.<p>'Pahandi' (procession where the deities are carried from the temple to the chariots) was carried out in the morning by servitors who tested negative for COVID-19, a temple official said.</p>.<p>"All entry points into Puri -- airports, railway stations, bus stands -- shall be closed during the period of Rath Yatra festival," the Supreme Court had said in its order.</p>