SPEAKER PATOLE +VE

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Nana Patole on Friday tested positive for Covid-19. He has done so three days before the two-day monsoon session of the State Legislature begins in Mumbai. Patole cannot attend the proceedings and in his absence Deputy Speaker Narhari Zirwal and a team of Presiding Officers are expected to tkae charge. Patole in a tweet said, ''In the last few days I had travelled extensively in my constituency to review the flood situation and related works. While travelling I started experiencing corona symptoms and got tested for the same.'' He has called upon those who came in his contact to get tested. Patole had recently held a meeting with the Public Health Secretar y Pradeep Vyas, the Medical Education Director Dr Tatyarao Lahane and Legislature Secretar y Rajendra Bhagwat to discuss safety measures, including the sanitization of the State Legislature building and conducting Covid-19 tests on all 288 assembly and 60 council members on September 5 and 6. He also presided over the Business Advisory Committee held on August 25 to finalise the date and business of the monsoon session. — Sanjay Jog/ Mumbai

19,218 CASES IN STATE: Crossing the 19,000 mark for the first time, Maharashtra added a record 19,218 new COVID-19 cases to its count on Friday, taking the state’s tally to 8,63,062 cases. The state had crossed the 18,000 mark for the first time on Thursday.