Spetember 3, Shimla
Himachal Pradesh Jal Shakti minister Mahender Singh Thakur tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday, ahead of the monsoon session of state assembly which begins on September 7.
“I got the Covid-19 test done after developing some early symptoms and the report came out positive. I humbly request all those who came in my contact in the recent days to isolate themselves and also undergo a test for the virus,” Thakur wrote on his Facebook page.
The minister was feeling uneasy for last two days and had got a routine checkup at Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC), Shimla on Wednesday. He again visited the hospital on Thursday and his sample was sent for Truenat test for Covid-19. The test report came out positive in the afternoon.
Thakur had visited New Delhi and met BJP national president JP Nadda on August 20 and 21.
After returning from Delhi, Thakur had also attended a cabinet meeting held in Shimla.
Meanwhile, a team of doctors will decide whether he will be admitted to a hospital or will home isolate. His personal staff has been quarantined and contract tracing is being done. The doctors have advised all persons who met the Minister and were in close contact with him, must home-quarantine themselves immediately.
The 70-year-old leader is the second minister in Himachal to have caught the virus after power minister Sukhram Chaudhary. Chaudhary and his daughters had tested positive on August 6, soon after he was inducted into the cabinet. He was discharged on August 20 after he recovered.
Earlier, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur went into a quarantine after a deputy secretary, and some of his security personnel were reportedly found infected recently. He, however, did not contract the virus.
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