'Third Wave At Our Doorsteps': Maharashtra CM Urges Political Parties To Stop Events Gathering Crowds

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that the upcoming festive period would be crucial and challenging. This comes as Mumbai has been reporting more than 400 new COVID-19 cases every day.

New Delhi: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday urged political parties to immediately stop protests, meetings and other programmes that gather crowds as the state witnesses a slight increase in the number of daily COVID-19 cases being reported.

"We can celebrate festivals later. Let us prioritise the lives and health of our citizens. The situation can go out of hand in view of the spike in daily cases," Thackeray said in a statement, as quoted by news PTI.

"Who would like to impose restrictions on festivals and religious programmes? But people's lives are important," he stated.

The Chief Minister said that the upcoming festive period would be crucial and challenging. The onus is on political parties to ensure things do not go out of control, he added.

Sounding the alarm over the possible third wave, Uddhav Thackeray further said that the "third wave of COVID-19 is at our doorsteps".

"Kerala is seeing a spike of 30,000 cases daily. This is a danger signal and if we don't take it seriously, Maharashtra will have to pay a heavy price," he added.

The Chief Minister's warnings come as Mumbai has been reporting more than 400 new COVID-19 cases every day for the past few days.

Mumbai on Sunday reported 495 cases, the highest since July 15 (528), along with two fatalities.

Maharashtra reported 4,057 coronavirus cases, which took the state's infection tally to 64,86,174, while the death of 67 patients pushed the toll to 1,37,774, the health department said on Sunday.

In an earlier plea, CM Uddhav Thackeray without naming Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) said: "Do not agitate for reopening of temples but do it against COVID-19", ANI reported.

During the interaction with the doctors across Maharashtra and the members of the task force on Sunday, Thackeray cautioned that "there was a surge in COVID-19 cases after festivals last year. I request all to avoid crowding... Wearing a face mask is important even after vaccination".