More than 10 ministers and at least 20 MLAs in Maharashtra have tested positive for coronavirus so far, Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on Saturday.
Notably, Maharashtra on Friday reported 8,067 fresh coronavirus positive cases, as much as 50 per cent more than Thursday.
"We cut short the Assembly session recently. So far, over 10 ministers and over 20 MLAs have tested positive for coronavirus. Everybody wants to be part of the celebrations of New Year, birthdays and other occasions. Keep in mind that the new variant (Omicron) spreads fast and hence caution is needed.
"PM Narendra Modi has appealed and some states have announced a night curfew. In Maharashtra, cases are increasing in Mumbai and Pune," Pawar told reporters after visiting the Jaystambh military monument in Perne village in the Pune district on the occasion of the 204th anniversary of the Battle of Koregaon Bhima.
He also said that strict restrictions might be clamped if the new COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Maharashtra.
Recently, Nationalist Congress Party Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule had tested positive for coronavirus.
Sule, 51, Lok Sabha MP from Baramati and daughter of NCP chief Sharad Pawar, said on Wednesday that her husband Sadanand Sule had also been detected with the infection.
Among state ministers, Varsha Gaikwad, Yashomati Thakur, and K C Padvi also tested positive for coronavirus recently.
Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil and Sagar Meghe are among the MLAs who also contracted this viral infection in the recent past.
Earlier, cabinet ministers Jitendra Awhad, Dhananjay Munde and Dilip Walse Patil had tested positive for coronavirus.
Maharashtra has seen a sharp rise in new daily coronavirus cases in the last 12 days of 2021.
The state government, in fresh guidelines issued on Thursday night, capped the attendance at gatherings in open or closed spaces at 50.
