Aslam Shaikh: Bollywood celebs & cricketers responsible for bed shortage at Mumbai hospitals

Maharashtra minister Aslam Shaikh on Tuesday accused celebrities and cricketers of allegedly occupying beds in major hospitals despite having no serious symptoms of coronavirus infection.

Speaking to reporters, 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.

"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," the state textile minister said.

If they had avoided getting admitted to hospitals, the state could have accommodated needy COVID-19 patients, he said.

Maharashtra reported 51,751 new COVID-19 cases and 258 deaths in the last 24 hours, the state health department informed on Monday evening. The number of corona cases in the state is increasing day by day.Mumbai reported 6,905 new COVID-19 cases and 43 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the total count of cases to 5,27,119. With 9,037 more recoveries, the total number of recoveries has gone up to 4,23,678. The city has 90,267 active cases currently.