Maharashtra’s Social Justice Minister and senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Dhananjay Munde and five of his staff tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection on Friday. Munde is the third minister in the state cabinet to have been infected by the deadly virus.
As per an Indian Express report, Munde had complained of throat infection, which is a symptom of COVID-19. He was later admitted to Breach Candy hospital. Munde's private secretary, media advisor and three other employees in his office also tested positive for COVID-19. However, they are asymptomatic.
Public Works Department Minister Ashok Chavan and Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad had previously tested positive for coronavirus; they have now recovered. Due to the rising number of cases in the state as well as the cabinet, some senior leaders in the government have decided to stay indoors for the next few days.
Hours before Munde tested positive, he attended the weekly cabinet meeting at the Mantralaya.
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Senior NCP leaders, including Member of Parliament Supriya Sule, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, state NCP president and Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil, Mumbai NCP president Nawab Malik, had attended foundation day ceremony. Moreover, Munde had also attended a meeting, chaired by Ajit Pawar, regarding cotton procurement.
"Senior officials from Munde’s department have been asked to home quarantine," sources told the newspaper.
Maharashtra continues to be on edge with the state reporting over 97,000 coronavirus cases. Out of the total 8,498 fatalities, Maharashtra tops the tally with 3,590 deaths till Friday morning.
For the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak, India recorded over 10,000 new cases in a day taking the tally to 2,97,535, while the death toll rose to 8,498 with a record single-day spike of 396 fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
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