Published 16:18 IST, September 24th 2020
Eknath Shinde tests positive for COVID-19; 14th Minister in MVA govt to contract infection
Maharashtra Minister Eknath Shinde tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He is the 14th minister in the Thackeray government to contract COVID-19.
On Thursday, Maharashtra Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Mentioning that his COVID-19 test was conducted on Wednesday, the Shiv Sena leader stated that his health parameters were okay. He appealed to those who had come in close contact to undergo COVID-19 testing apart from taking other necessary precautions. Shinde is the 14th minister in the Uddhav Thackeray-led government to contract the infection.
The other ministers who tested positive for the novel coronavirus are School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad, MoS School Education Bacchu Kadu, Energy Minister Nitin Raut, Rural Development Minister Hasan Mushrif, MoS Rural Development Abdul Sattar, Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad, PWD Minister Ashok Chavan, Social Justice Minister Dhananjay Munde, Animal Husbandry Ministry Sunil Kedar, Cooperation Minister Balasaheb Patil, MoS Cooperation Vishwajeet Kadam, Ports Minister Aslam Shaikh and MoS Environment Sanjay Bansode.
COVID-19 crisis in Maharashtra
Currently, there are 12,63,799 confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Maharashtra out of which 9,56,030 patients have recovered while 33,886 fatalities have been reported. There are 2,73,477 active cases in the state. At present, 18,75,424 persons are in home quarantine while 34,457 others have been admitted to institutional quarantine centres. A total of 61,06,787 samples have been tested for COVID-19 in Maharashtra so far. The positivity rate, recovery rate and fatality rate stands at 20.69%, 75.65% and 2.68% respectively.
Earlier in the day, Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray provided the progress report of 'My Family, My Responsibility' campaign. This entails door-to-door survey for tracing and treating COVID-19 patients, identifying people with co-morbidities, raising awareness and educating citizens on safety measures to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission. Thackeray revealed that 69.94 lakh households have been surveyed via 55,268 teams. Out of 37,733 suspected cases, 4517 COVID-19 positive patients have been detected.
Modi interacts with 7 CMs
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with the Chief Ministers and Health Ministers of Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi to review the COVID-19 situation. As of September 22, these states account for 63% of active cases, 65.5% of total cases, and 77% of the total deaths in the country. Stressing that only 60 out of the total districts in India are a cause for worry on the novel coronavirus front, he suggested that the CMs should directly interact with the block level officials for 7 days to ensure seriousness on the ground. Moreover, he announced that the State Disaster Response Fund utilization limit has been increased from 35% to 50%.
(Image credits: Twitter)
Updated 16:18 IST, September 24th 2020