While the guardian minister of Mumbai Island City, Aslam Shaikh has conducted over half-a-dozen meetings with the BMC, city collector, doctors and police officials in his jurisdiction, his colleague Aditya Thackeray, guardian minister of suburban Mumbai, has been missing in action. Shaikh, in the last 21 days, has conducted three to four meetings with the island city collector. "He also met with other officials to take stock of the situation," a government official said on condition of anonymity.

"When everyone is on the field to fight this crisis, how can I stay home? I believe that the presence of leaders on the ground helps build confidence in the system," Shaikh said, while maintaining that public representatives need to follow all standard operating procedures and guidelines (including social distancing) while doing so.