Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has tested positive for novel Coronavirus, becoming the first head of a state to be infected with the virus. He has been admitted to the Chirayu Hospital in state capital Bhopal.

Informing about the same on his Twitter handle, Chouhan wrote in Hindi: “My dear countrymen, I was having COVID-19 symptoms and, after a test, my report came back positive. I am following all the guidelines and will quarantine myself according to the doctor’s advice”.

The chief minister further said that he will continue to participate in the daily Coronavirus review meetings via video conferencing.

The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister also appealed to his party workers to get tested if they had come in contact with him in recent days and urged those who have been in close contact with him to go into quarantine.

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, in a tweet, also appealed to the people of Madhya Pradesh to remain vigilant. “I appeal to the people of my state to be careful, just a little carelessness invites coronavirus. I made every effort to avoid it, but people used to come and meet me for various reasons,” he said.

Stating that, in his absence, Ministers Narottam Mishra, Bhupendra Singh and Vishwas Sarang will hold meetings, Chouhan added “I myself will continue to make every effort to control COVID-19 during treatment.”

Meanwhile, all close contacts of the Chief Minister, who was to hold a meeting at 11.30 am, have been quarantined.

The Chief Minister further reassured his supporters that there was no need to panic and that despite his medical condition he would continue to lead efforts to contain the virus in his state.

“No need to panic, If coronavirus is treated in time, it is curable,” he said. adding, “I have been reviewing the status of coronavirus infections every evening since March 25. I will try to review this via video conferencing as much as possible now”.

Earlier, State Cooperative Minister Arvind Bhadoria was also found to be Coronavirus positive. He continues to be under treatment.

Madhya Pradesh has recorded over 26,000 COVID-19 cases so far, including 791 deaths linked to the virus. The number of active cases in the state is more than 7,500.

Earlier, Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain had tested positive for Coronavirus on June 17. He was first admitted in the Delhi government-run Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital but then was shifted to the Max Hospital after his condition worsened and was kept on oxygen support in the ICU.

He was administered plasma therapy after which his condition improved and was discharged nine days later on June 26.

After recovering from the infection, Jain resumed work from July 20.

Even as India races to develop a cure for the COVID-19 virus, and despite all safety protocols in place for the last four months to contain the pandemic outbreak, the number of infected are increasing drastically each day. A total of 48,916 fresh cases were reported on Saturday after 49,310 on Friday taking the total to 98,226 — touching almost a lakh in less than two days.

In the last 24 hours, 787 people succumbed to the deadly virus, as there is a huge surge in cases in the hinterlands.

According to the latest data available on the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, total number of cases in India reached 13,36,861 of which 31,388 people have lost their lives while 8,49,432 have recovered. The total number of active cases are 4,56,071 cases. The ministry stated that the recovery rate is 63.53 per cent.

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