UP CM Yogi Adityanath tests positive for COVID-19; self-isolates
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19. The 48-year-old CM said that he has self-isolated and advised those who came in contact with him to get tested for the viral disease. The development comes a day after the state reported the biggest single-day spike in the number of infections since the pandemic began.
Tweeting in Hindi, Adityanath said, "After developing early symptoms, I got tested for COVID-19 and the report was positive. I have self-isolated and I am strictly following the advice of doctors. All work is being conducted virtually." "All state government activities are being conducted normally. Meanwhile, those who have come in contact with me must get tested and take precautions," he added.
On Tuesday, the CM had isolated himself after some staffers in his office had tested positive for COVID-19. He did not identify the staffers by name. He had tweeted, "Some staffers in my office have been infected with the coronavirus. These staffers have been in contact with me, hence I have isolated myself as a precaution and all work is being done virtually."
Notably, Adityanath has actively been campaigning for his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the ongoing eight-phase West Bengal Assembly election. The CM's diagnosis comes shortly after he had wrapped up his election campaign, where he was one of the star campaigners. According to PTI, other officials who have tested positive for COVID-19 include Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Abhishek Kaushik.
On Tuesday, the latest available update, UP had reported a record single-day spike of 18,021 new cases (2.18 lakh samples were tested). The total caseload in the state stood at 7,23,582. 6,18,293 people have recovered since the beginning of the pandemic and 95,980 infections are active. Further, 85 fatalities on the day took the death toll in the state to 9,309.
The central government has also raised concerns over the COVID-19 spike in UP. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday said that infections in the state have risen sharply from an average of 89 cases per day to 10,000 cases a day.
In light of the recent spike in infections, the UP government has ordered the closure of all schools till April 30. The government has also imposed other curbs to contain the outbreak during Navratri and Ramzan. A night curfew has been imposed in all districts with more than 500 active cases. The curfew has already been imposed in Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, etc.
