Amid the coronavirus outbreak, several politicians across the country imposed self-quarantine after coming in contact with people who had tested positive or been around those infected.
On Friday, 20 March, former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje took to Twitter to announce that she and her son and BJP MP, Dushyant Singh, were in self-quarantine after they heard singer Kanika Kapoor, who they had recently attended a dinner party with in Lucknow, had tested positive for COVID-19.
Kapoor has since been booked for negligence, PTI reported, quoting Lucknow’s police chief.
Raje stated that she and her son are taking the necessary precautions.
However, prior to Kapoor confirming that she had tested positive, which she did in a social media post on Friday, Singh had attended Parliament.
According to PTI, Singh was among the many MPs who attended a breakfast meeting hosted by President Ram Nath Kovind on 18 March as well as a Parliamentary panel meeting on transport, tourism and culture attended by around 20 MPs on the same day.
Congress leader Jitin Prasada has also placed himself in self-quarantine, as he was present at the party attended by Kapoor, ANI reported.
Congress' Deepinder Hooda has also gone into self-quarantine owing to his presence at the same party, PTI reported.
Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh, who had attended a party with Kapoor, tested negative for COVID-19 on Saturday, the King George Medical University in Lucknow said, according to PTI. The 66-year-old minister had gone into self-isolation after the test in Lucknow on Friday soon after Kapoor announced that she had tested positive for coronavirus.
KGMU spokesperson Dr Sudhir Singh said that samples of 28 people who came in contact with Singh have also tested negative, according to PTI.
BJP General Secretary and Uttar Pradesh MLA Pankaj Singh had announced on Friday that he was self-isolating as a precaution till the UP Health Minister’s medical report is received.
Shiv Sena MP Krupal Tumane on Saturday announced that he too went on self-quarantine after coming in contact with Singh during the Parliamentary Standing Committee meeting on 18 March.
UP MLAs Dhirendra Singh and Tejpal Nagar have also self-isolated themselves till Jai Pratap Singh’s test reports are received, ANI reported on Friday.
A report said that around fifty local journalists from Noida and Greater Noida had been asked to self-isolate after attending a press conference held by the UP Health Minister.
Derek O’Brien, Anupriya Patel, Sanjay Singh Isolate After Meeting Dushyant
Several Members of Parliament including TMC's Derek O'Brien and Apna Dal's Anupriya Patel on Friday went into self-quarantine following the announcement by BJP MP Dushyant Singh and Vasundhara Raje.
O’Brien’s party colleague Sukhendu Shekhar Roy too has announced self-isolation, PTI reported.
Meanwhile, Apna Dal (Sonelal) leader Anupriya Patel announced that she too was entering self-isolation after having been present at an event on Thursday where Dushyant Singh was also present.
“I will follow the necessary guidelines by the government,” she said on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the aviation ministry said on Friday that its officials, who came in close proximity with Singh on 18 March in Parliament, have all quarantined themselves as a precautionary measure.
Sources told PTI that PS Kharola, the Civil Aviation Secretary had attended the meeting and has self-quarantined.
The Aam Aadmi Party's Sanjay Singh also announced in a video message on Twitter that he is self-isolating for 14 days after having heard of O’Brien’s decision to isolate.
AAP’s Rajya Sabha MP ND Gupta is also joining him in self-isolation, according to his tweet.
Earlier, on 17 March, Kerala Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan had announced that he had been in quarantine since he found out that a doctor at a medical institute that he had visited on 14 March for an event had tested positive for COVID-19. The minister said that despite having tested negative himself, he had placed himself in home quarantine.
Former Union Minister Suresh Prabhu too quarantined himself at his residence for the next 14 days as a precautionary measure following his return from Saudi Arabia to attend a meeting on 10 March, PTI reported.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI.)
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