Imran Khedawala had attended the meeting at Chief Minister Vijay Rupani’s home along with Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja.
Mumbai, April 15:
Gujarat’s Vijay Rupani became the country’s first Chief Minister to put himself in quarantine after an MLA who attended a meeting with him yesterday turned out to be coronavirus-positive. Imran Khedawala, the Congress MLA from Jamalpur-Khadia, had attended the meeting at the Chief Minister’s home along with Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja.
Two other Congress MLAs from the city – Gyasuddin Shaikh and Shailesh Parmar – were also present in the meeting.
Videos from the meeting showed they followed the rules of social distancing and sat at least a meter apart. Mr Rupani went into self-quarantine after learning that the MLA tested positive.
Mr Rupani’s office said his health was fine and he would run the state administration through video conference, video and phone calls.
“No visitor will be allowed at the chief minister’s residence for the next one week,” Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) secretary Ashwani Kumar was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
Sources said Mr Khedawala was running a temperature for several days, and had given samples for testing. But he attended the meeting before the results were out, sources said.
The MLA had also attended a press conference, where other MLAs and health officials were present.
Mr Khedawala is currently admitted in Gandhinagar’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Hospital, a facility dedicated to the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
The administration is looking into how many people shared space with the MLA and will need to be quarantined.
While announcing an extension of the lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the next seven days will be crucial for containing the spread of the virus. During this period, every district will be under scanner as the Centre will check if the lockdown is being properly implemented, he said.
Gujarat has seen 650 cases of coronavirus, 59 patients have recovered and 28 are dead.
Courtesy: NDTV
