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SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal tests positive for Covid-19
Badal is the second senior Punjab politician to have tested positive over the last week.
Punjab's Shiromani Akali Dal president, Sukhbir Singh Badal tested positive for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Tuesday, the senior opposition leader announced on Twitter. Badal said he has isolated himself according to government-mandated protocol."I would like to inform everyone that I have tested Covid positive. My health is fine and as per protocol, I have isolated myself. I request those who came in contact with me during the last few days to isolate themselves & get tested for Covid - 19," Badal wrote on the micro-blogging site.
Badal is the second senior Punjab politician to have tested positive over the last week. In a tweet on Friday, Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal had announced on Twitter that he had tested negative before the Punjab assembly session but appeared to have contracted the infection subsequently.
On March 15, the SAD chief addressed a rally in Jalalabad town in the Fazilka district and launched a political programme "Punjab Mangda Jawab". During the rally, Badal announced that he will contest the forthcoming state elections from the Jalalabad constituency. It was the first major political programme after Punjab witnessed a surge in Covid-19 cases.
During the event, people were seen flouting pandemic norms as hardly any leader or people in the audience were seen wearing a face mask. Social distancing rules were also seen flouted during the event.
In August last year, Badal's residence at Badal village was declared a macro containment zone after a large number of his security officials and personal staff tested positive for the Covid-19. Badal, his wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal, their daughter Gurleen Kaur and son Anantveer Singh had tested negative.
Punjab is one of the six states that are accounting for 78.41 per cent of the new cases in India, the other five being Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. India's cumulative Covid-19 tally on Tuesday was pushed above 11,409,800 after 24,492 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. The death toll was increased to 158,856 after 131 people succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours. The country's total active caseload has reached 2,19,262 comprising 1.93 per cent of the total infections.
