Fadnavis demands reopening of gyms in Maharashtra, questions priority to liquor shops

Writing to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis backed the demand for immediately reopening gymnasiums across the state. Though the Ministry of Home Affairs allowed gyms to resume functioning in the Unlock 3.0 phase, the Maharashtra government has retained the earlier restrictions. According to Fadnavis, the social, economic, and psychological impact of the COVID-19 crisis have to be factored in as well.

He lamented the fact that gyms remained closed in the state at a juncture when liquor shops have been permitted to operate. While conceding that financial considerations are important, the Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Assembly questioned Thackeray on the lack of importance accorded to people's health. He claimed that the state government's entire strategy to control the spread of COVID-19 has failed.

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Citing the example of barber shops, Fadnavis regretted the fact that Maharashtra had not the lead in reopening economic activities. He contended that all the lockdown restrictions will have to be gradually relaxed. Maintaining that it is not possible to impose curbs on the state's economy, he revealed that gyms owners had themselves proposed measures to contain COVID-19 spread. Moreover, he slammed the MVA government for focusing more on rapid antigen tests than the RT-PCR test for the novel coronavirus.

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COVID-19 crisis in Maharashtra

On Thursday, August 13, Maharashtra recorded 11,813 novel coronavirus cases, propelling the state's COVID-19 tally to 5,60,126. At present, there are 1,49,798 active cases in the state. With 9,115 COVID-19 patients discharged in the day, the number of recovered soared to 3,90,958. 413 deaths were reported on Thursday. 

Until now, a total of 19,063 persons have died owing to COVID-19. So far, 29,76,090 samples have been tested for the novel coronavirus in various laboratories across the state. While 10,25,660 persons are under home quarantine, 36,450 others have been admitted to institutional quarantine centres. The COVID-19 positivity rate, recovery rate, and fatality rate in Maharashtra stands at 18.82%, 69.8%, and 3.4% respectively. 

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