'Celebrate festivals later': Maharashtra CM urges people amid fears of third COVID-19 wave

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday appealed to political parties to immediately stop the protests, public meetings and other programs to avoid gathering in view of the rise in daily cases of COVID-19 in the state.

In a statement, Thackeray said, "We can celebrate the festival later. Let us give priority to the life and health of our citizens. The situation may go out of control in view of the increase in daily cases." He added, "Who would want to ban the celebration of festivals and religious programs? But people's lives are important."

The CM further said, "The times of the coming festivals are important and challenging. It is the responsibility of the political parties to ensure that the situation does not go out of control. The third wave of Covid-19 is standing at your doorstep. 30,000 cases are coming daily in Kerala. These are alarming signs and Maharashtra will have to pay a heavy price if we do not take it seriously."

According to official figures, more than 400 Covid-19 cases are being registered daily in Mumbai for the last few days. As per the Health Department, 4,057 new cases of infection were reported in Maharashtra on Sunday, taking the total number of people infected so far in the state to 64,86,174. At the same time, due to the death of 67 infected people on Sunday, the total number of people who lost their lives due to coronavirus in the state has increased to 1,37,774.