Maharashtra Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad admitted himself to a hospital on Tuesday after some of his security staff members tested positive for Covid-19, PTI reported on Wednesday. The Nationalist Congress Party MLA from the Mumbai-Kalwa region is now under quarantine at a private hospital in Thane city, near Mumbai.

Awhad had been in quarantine since April 13 and said that his samples had at the time tested negative for the coronavirus. However, Awhad added that he would complete his quarantine period in the hospital merely as a precaution, The Indian Express reported.

“He had completed over a week in self-quarantine and today approached the hospital as part of precautionary check-up,” a Nationalist Congress Party worker said.

Maharashtra has so far reported 5,218 cases of the coronavirus – the highest for any state in the country – including 251 deaths, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

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