Maharashtra Minister Aslam Shaikh on Tuesday blamed the celebs and cricketers for the shortage of beds at the hospitals, saying they are occupying beds in hospitals despite having no serious symptoms of coronavirus infection.
Aslam Shaikh, who is the guardian minister of Mumbai, said personalities from the film industry and cricketers have occupied beds in major private hospitals for longer periods of time, resulting in the shortage of beds.
He added that if the celebs and cricketers had avoided getting admitted to hospitals, the state could have accommodated the needy Covid-19 patients.
"Some celebrities from the film industry and cricketers had mild symptoms or were asymptomatic, but they got themselves admitted to major private hospitals and occupied beds for longer periods," Aslam Shaikh was quoted as saying by PTI.
Aslam Shaikh has also hinted at new stricter guidelines that he said will be imposed in Maharashtra by late evening as teh virus cases have continued to see a rise. "It will be like mini lockdown," he said.
Aslam Shaikh said the government has issued guidelines and several steps to curb the coronavirus cases and break the chain, but it has not happened.
"However, even after several strict guidelines, cases of coronavirus are not declining and therefore more strict guidelines will be imposed. The chain is not breaking. Very strict new SOPs will be imposed to break the chain in the next few hours," he said.
(With inputs from Saurabh Vaktania in Mumbai)