Maharashtra: 26 government officials test positive for coronavirus
Amid a spike in coronavirus cases in Maharashtra, at least 26 government officials tested positive for the virus on Monday. They were screened yesterday ahead of the budget session of the state legislature, Hindustan Times reported. Meanwhile, temple authorities across the state have taken several measures to avoid gatherings on the occasion of Ganesh Angarki Chaturthi on Tuesday. Here are more details on this.
State legislature secretary confirms the news
The officials who tested positive included government staff members, police personnel, and office-bearers of political parties. They had applied for passes to attend the session on behalf of their respective offices, Vidhan Bhavan officials said. "Test reports of around 26 people have been found positive for COVID-19. None of them are legislators," said Rajendra Bhagwat, secretary, state legislature.
3,260 officials were tested for COVID-19
Notably, state legislature secretariat has made a negative COVID-19 test report mandatory to attend the legislature sessions for all the ministers, legislators, officials, employees, and security staff. It also organized a two-day camp where coronavirus tests of around 3,260 people were done.
Many state ministers had earlier tested positive
Many members of Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Cabinet have tested positive for coronavirus since the outbreak of the deadly disease, which originated in China in late 2019. At least six ministers, including Health Minister Rajesh Tope, Anil Deshmukh, Chhagan Bhujbal, Jayant Patil, Rajendra Shigne, and Bachchu Kadu had been declared COVID-19 positive earlier.
Maharashtra witnessing dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases
Maharashtra is witnessing a dramatic rise in coronavirus cases as the number of daily infections rose from around 4,000 to more than 8,000 in the past few weeks, forcing authorities to impose curfews and lockdowns. On March 1, the state reported 6,397 fresh cases, lower than the daily count of the last five days. There are currently around 78,000 active cases in the state.
Temple authorities take measures to reduce crowds
On a related note, Shree Siddhivinayak Ganapati Temple in Mumbai disallowed physical "darshan" today. The temple trust announced that only those devotees with pre-issued QR codes would be allowed entry inside the temple. Meanwhile, at the Shreemant Dagdusheth Halwai Ganpati Mandir in Pune, devotees were allowed darshan from outside as the temple remained closed due to the rise in COVID-19 cases there.
