New Delhi: Uttarakhand tourism minister Satpal Maharaj on Sunday tested positive for coronavirus, a day after his wife was stated to have contracted the infection.
Heath department officials requesting anonymity revealed to News18 that besides Maharaj, 22 others, including his son and daughter-in-law, have been tested positive.
The minister's son Suyesh Rawat had last year tied the knot with actor Mohena Kumari Singh at a grand ceremony in Haridwar.
The Dehradun administration had put the minister's private residence under quarantine earlier this week after some people from Delhi visited him during lockdown.
According to initial reports, the staff of the minister have been sent into quarantine. A day earlier 40 were isolated, including Maharaj, after his wife Amrita contracted the virus.
Officials said that she had recently travelled to their Delhi ashram, and while returning to Dehradun, some of her followers had accompanied her.
Maharaj and his wife are both religious preachers. The duo have substantial following and their supporters are spread across Haryana, Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh.
On Friday, the minister had attended state cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat. Now with Maharaj testing positive, other ministers are in tizzy.
Agriculture minister Subodh Uniyal demanded swab samples of other ministers should also be collected to confirm whether they were safe. Official sources added a high-level team, comprising health officials, will take a call whether the CM, cabinet and other officials should be sent to quarantine.
Comments
0 comment