Coronavirus: Maharashtra minister Aslam Shaikh tests positive for COVID-19
Maharashtra state textile minister Aslam Shaikh on Monday said he has tested positive for coronavirus and is isolating himself. He informed that he is currently asymptomatic and has urged all his contacts to get themselves tested.
FollowMumbai: Maharashtra minister Aslam Shaikh on Monday said he has tested positive for coronavirus and is isolating himself. The state textile minister said he is currently asymptomatic and urged those who came in close contact with him to get themselves tested.
"This is to inform that I've tested positive for COVID19. Im currently asymptomatic and isolating myself. I request all those who have come in close contact with me to get themselves tested," Shaikh, who is also Mumbai city's guardian minister, tweeted.
Shaikh, the Congress MLA from Malad-West seat in Mumbai, also said he will continue to work from home.
He is the fourth minister in the Uddhav Thackeray government to have been infected by the novel coronavirus.
Earlier, state ministers Jitendra Awhad, Ashok Chavan and Dhananjay Munde had tested positive for the disease and later recovered.
Maharashtra reported 9,518 COVID-19 cases on Sunday – the highest single-day spike since the onset of the pandemic. The last highest spike was recorded three days ago at 8,641. Overall, 3.1 lakh cases have been recorded in the state since March.
Across the state, 258 people succumbed to COVID-19, up from the previous-day toll of 144. With this, the state has reported a toll of 11,854 deaths so far.
Among the 258 people who succumbed to COVID-19 on Sunday, Mumbai accounted for 64 deaths, followed by Pune city (25), Kalyan Dombivali (22), Pimpri Chinchwad (15), Thane city (12) and Vasai Virar (11).
Mumbai has 23,697 active cases and 1.01 lakh of the total caseload so far in Maharashtra.
Meanwhile, the number of coronavirus cases in Pune city surpassed the 37,000-mark on Monday, with a single day spike of 1,508 new cases on Sunday. Pune's caseload stands at 37,386 with 976 fatalities, 41 more people succumbing to the infection in the last 24 hours, a health official said.
