Maharashtra Minister Blames B-Town Celebs And Cricketers For Bed Shortage At Mumbai Hospitals

Maharashtra Minister Aslam Shaikh, without taking names, said that some Bollywood stars and cricketers occupied beds for a long time despite having mild symptoms.

(Source- Aslam Shaikh's Twitter)

The number of COVID-19 cases has witnessed a surge in the past few weeks in the country. Several Bollywood celebs including Akshay Kumar, Aamir Khan, Kartik Aaryan, Vicky Kaushal, Katrina Kaif have contracted the virus in recent times. While different state governments have imposed certain restrictions to combat the further spread of the virus, the tinsel town stars are urging their fans to follow precautions to keep Coronavirus at bay.  

Mumbai has been the worst-affected city as it is reporting over 10k COVID-19 cases since the past few days. Some celebs including Akshay Kumar and Sachin Tendulkar were even hospitalised after they tested positive for Coronavirus. Maharashtra Minister Aslam Shaikh, while addressing the press on Tuesday (April 13), blamed the Bollywood stars and cricketers for occupying hospital beds in the city despite not having any serious symptoms of the virus.  

The Maharashtra cabinet minister said the hospital beds could have been used for the patients, who need to be admitted on an urgent basis.  

“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 minister said without mentioning Akshay Kumar, Sachin Tendulkar and other celebs.

For the uninitiated, both Akshay and Sachin were admitted to a hospital after they tested positive for COVID-19. While the ‘Sooryavanshi’ actor was hospitalized as a precautionary measure, the former cricketer got admitted to HN Reliance Hospital six days after testing positive for the virus. The ‘Little Master’, who was discharged on April 8, issued a post on social media to inform the fans about the same . He is still in self-isolation at his home. 

Akshay's wife Twinkle Khanna had shared a post on Instagram to announce that the 'PadMan' star had returned home after spending some days at a hospital. She wrote, "Safe and sound and good to have him back around."

The shooting of Ram Setu' was halted after 45 crew members  tested positive for COVID-19. The upcoming movie stars Akshay Kumar, Jacqueline Fernandez and Nushratt Bharucha in lead roles.

On a related note, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddav Thackeray will address the people of the state on Tuesday in the wake of increasing number of COVID-19 cases.

(With PTI Inputs)