Videos of patients performing ‘garba’ at COVID-19 facilities in Mumbai went viral after they surfaced on the social media, PTI reported. The two videos emerged at a time when the Maharashtra government urged the citizens to organise health and blood donation camps instead of engaging in festivities during the ongoing Navratri festival.

In one of the videos, people are seen wearing masks and PPE gears and performing the dance on a Bollywood song, in the female ward of a COVID-19 facility.

According to some social media posts, the videos of garba performance are from the Goregaon-based jumbo COVID-19 facility of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), PTI reported.

BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal told PTI on Tuesday that the facility’s dean had denied organising such event. Chahal, however, accepted that one of the videos were indeed from the BMC’s COVID-19 centre.

“As it was a sign of happiness, the doctors inside (the facility) allowed them to celebrate,” he said quoting the dean, PTI reported.

The Maharashtra government last month urged people to celebrate the Navratri and forthcoming Dussehra festival in a low-key manner due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In the guidelines issued on September 29, it suggested organisation of health and blood donation camps instead of dandiya, garba and cultural events involving mass participation.

Even the BMC earlier this month appealed to people to strictly follow guidelines issued by the state government while celebrating the Navratri and Dussehra festivals.