MORE POLITICIANS TEST COVID POSITIVE

PRADHAN, EX-K’TAKA CM SIDDARAMAIAH LATEST TO BE INFECTED

NEW DELHI: Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan has tested positive for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Tuesday and has been admitted to Medanta Hospital here for treatment.

In a tweet, Pradhan said he has been admitted to hospital after testing positive.

Fifty-one-year-old Pradhan had developed Covid-19 symptoms on Monday and was tested on Tuesday.

“After seeing symptoms of Covid-19, I got tested. The report has come positive,” he tweeted.

“On the advice of doctors, I have been admitted to hospital and I am healthy.”

Sources said Pradhan had met Union home minister Amit Shah, who was admitted to Medanta on Sunday after testing positive for coronavirus, last week.

Shah’s staff had also tested positive for Covid-19 earlier and are in isolation.

Pradhan is the second member of the Narendra Modi cabinet after Shah to test positive for coronavirus.

Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad took to Twitter to announce that he has isolated himself as a precautionary measure after a meeting on Saturday with home minister Amit Shah who has tested positive for Covid-19.

Union minister Babul Supriyo also went into self-isolation as he too had met Shah.

Other senior politicians to have tested positive for Covid-19 include Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa and former Karnataka chief minister Siddharamaiah.

Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb had tested negative for Covid-19, but has quarantined himself at home for a week after two of his family members tested positive for the infection.

Tamil Nadu governor Banwarilal Purohit has also been diagnosed with the infection and is being treated at the Kauvery Hospital.