Three days after Chief Minister Hemant Soren self-quarantined himself following one of his Cabinet colleagues and a JMM legislator testing positive for Covid-19, the CM, his wife Kalpana Soren, Press Advisor Abhishek Prasad and his Senior Private Secretary Sunil Shrivastava tested negative for the deadly disease on Saturday.
A team of three doctors collected throat swab samples of the CM, his family member and 23 other people working at the Chief Minister’s residence early on Saturday morning and some of the results were declared by evening. The results of many others were not released at the time of filing of the report.
“The report of CM and his wife has come out negative for Covid-19. Some of the samples are in the process of testing,” said Health Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni.
“I appeal to the people of Jharkhand. Be safe Take care of your family members. With the cooperation of all, we will defeat Corona. Stay home stay safe. More and more people should be tested for corona, especially those who show signs of infection even a little. This will help in treating them,” said the CM after his samples were tested negative.
Notably, after Minister Mithilesh Thakur and MLA Mathura Mahato were tested Corona positive, a team of three doctors took samples of all officials and personnel working in the Chief Minister’s office for investigation.
After Drinking Water and Sanitation Minister Mithilesh Thakur and JMM MLA from Tundi Mathura Mahto tested positive for Covid-19, a former legislator Kushwaha Shivpujan Mehta also tested positive for Covid-19 the next day.
Several people, who came in contact with the leaders, are being identified and their testing is being done, said health officials.
Principal Secretary to CM Rajiv Arun Ekka, his Press Advisor Abhishek Prasad and Senior Private Secretary Sunil Shrivastava are also home quarantined.
Notably, the Capital city has witnessed a spike in the number of Covid cases in the last week when several people including policemen, businessmen and government employees have been found Corona positive. In last two days 40 cases have surfaced in Ranchi district, while a woman was reported dead in a private hospital.
