Gujarat Congress MLA Imran Khedawala tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday evening, sending shock waves across the political and bureaucratic circles in the state as he had met Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in the morning.
Khedawala, who represents Jamalpur-Khadia constituency, is the first politician in the state to have tested positive for COVID-19. He has been admitted to Ahmedabad's SVP Hospital for treatment.
According to sources, Khedawala attended the meeting with the chief minister despite having a sore throat and fever. Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, Home Minister Pradipsinh Jadeja were also present in the meeting.
Khedawala, who had a mask with him, was seen not wearing it in the television grabs. He was accompanied by another Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar, who was wearing a mask. Rupani and Patel were also not wearing masks. Khedawala was about 10 meters away from the chief minister. Later, Khedawala had also met a few journalists.
Till the time of filing this report, it is not clear whether Rupani, Patel, Jadeja and Parmar will be advised self-quarantine by the health officials.
Khedawala, who belongs to the minority community, has been meeting his community members in the last few days, requesting them to get tested for the deadly virus. Even in a message given to the media, he had said that he had been telling people that they should not fear for being tested.
Curfew in walled city of Ahemdabad
Meanwhile, Gujarat government has announced a curfew from Wednesday morning till April 21 in the walled city area of Ahmedabad. The area has been identified as a hotspot of COVID-19 and more than 29 lakh persons are under cluster quarantine.
Twenty-eight persons have lost their lives in the state so far while the number of COVID-19 positive patients has gone up to 650.
In Surat, hundreds of migrant labourers came out on the streets on Tuesday evening demanding food. Police had a tough time dispersing them. This is the second time in the last few days that migrant labourers have come out on the streets in large numbers.
In Vadodara, tension mounted after it emerged that a markaz was held in Nagarwada area for a few days in March. People from other states had also attended the markaz. The area has been already declared a COVID-19 hotspot.
