Hindu priests at a temple in southern India are saying daily prayers to two coronavirus goddesses in an effort to tame the pandemic as the country battles a new surge of infections. Two “Corona Devi” idols have been set up in the southern city of Coimbatore, which is badly hit in an outbreak that has killed 100,000 people nationwide in the past four weeks. The Kamatchipuri Adhinam temple is shut to worshippers because of the city’s high infection rates, but priests are paying tribute in front of the goddesses, one made of sandalwood and the other from stone. They leave food and other offerings, chant prayers urging an end to the pandemic and bathe the idols in turmeric water and milk. “We have had similar temples for smallpox, chickenpox and plague in the past,” said temple manager Anandbharathi K. “We are worshipping the virus in the form of a Goddess and praying to her every day to reduce the impacts of this disease.” Hong Kong’s Indian diaspora mobilises to send help amid Covid-19 crisis While case numbers are easing in much of India, the country of 1.3 billion people has been shocked by the severity of the latest wave of the pandemic, which overwhelmed hospitals and led to critical shortages of oxygen and medicines. “Even doctors are unable to deal with the enormity of the situation. So, we turn to faith and God as a last resort,” Anandbharathi said. Doctors and nurses on India’s pandemic front lines say they have been pushed into physical and mental exhaustion as they fight to keep their patients alive. Mousimi Das had to treat her own mother in her Kolkata hospital as countless patients including a colleague’s father died around her, working 48 hours in one stretch without a break. She has one message for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “We are exhausted, frustrated, and depressed,” Das said over phone, her voice breaking with fatigue. “Please see us. Please hear us. If you don’t listen to doctors, nurses and staff working on the ground, you will never be able to improve the health infrastructure.” More than 1,200 doctors have lost their lives so far in a country that has reported nearly 27 million Covid-19 cases, according to a toll maintained by the Indian Medical Association. India on Thursday posted 211,298 new coronavirus cases over the last 24 hours, while deaths from Covid-19 rose by 3,847. The South Asian country’s overall caseload is now at 27.37 million, while total fatalities are at 315,235, according to health ministry data. Additional reporting by Reuters