10 Maha mantris down with Covid

Maharashtra records over 9,170 new cases

Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar on Saturday informed that more than 10 ministers and at least 20 MLAs in the state have tested positive for Covid so far. He also said that more restrictions might be imposed if the new Covid cases continue to rise in the state.

Former Maharashtra minister and BJP national secretary Pankaja Munde too tested positive for the Omicron variant of Covid. Minister Yashomati Thakur on Friday informed that she had tested positive for coronavirus.

In view of more members of Maharashtra legislature contracting infections, deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said that if the patients keep increasing in the state, the government may have to impose further curbs.

Appealing to the people to follow the Covid appropriate behavior, Mr. Pawar said, “The infection is increasing rapidly. We curtailed the Assembly session to five days. So far, over 10 ministers and over

20 MLAs have tested positive for Covid within five days. Everybody including public representatives should keep in mind the Covid appropriate behavior.”

Maharashtra on Saturday reported 9,170 new cases taking the total number of active cases to

32,225. A total of 460 patients are infected with the Omicron variant in Maharashtra. Of these,

327 cases of Omicron have been reported in Mumbai only.

The state also saw seven deaths in 24 hours. Six new Omicron variant infections have been reported in the state. All the six patients with Omicron are from Pune district.

Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope said on Saturday that the imposition of lockdown in the state was not being discussed at present,

Disaster management minister Vijay Wadettiwar had said the day before that the “stage of fresh lockdown” was nearing, but the decision will be taken by the chief minister.

“Decision of lockdown is not under discussion currently. The government will take decision about restrictions by taking into consideration the case positivity rate, hospital bed occupancy and oxygen consumption,” Tope told reporters.

“If the daily (medical) oxygen requirement crosses 700 metric tonnes, then the state will go into lockdown automatically,” he said.

“Currently we have imposed some restrictions on social gatherings. If it brings the virus spread under control, well and good. Otherwise we will have to impose stricter restrictions,” the health minister added.

Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will hold a meeting of top officials in this regard soon, he said.

Finding out the exact figures of Omicron and Delta cases was important in the present situation, and at least one genome sequencing lab was needed in each of the administrative divisions of the state, he added.

Lockdown not under discussion, says Maha

health minister