Gujarat: Visitors barred from CM's residence after MLA tests positive for COVID-19
2 Congress MLAs who accompanied Khedawala to meeting with Rupani are in quarantine
2 Congress MLAs who accompanied Khedawala to meeting with Rupani are in quarantine
2 Congress MLAs who accompanied Khedawala to meeting with Rupani are in quarantine
2 Congress MLAs who accompanied Khedawala to meeting with Rupani are in quarantine
A day after a Congress MLA from Ahmedabad, who tested positive for COVID-19 had met Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, the state government has decided not to allow any visitor for a week to the chief minister's residence.
Jamalpur-Khadia MLA Imran Khedawala had met Rupani, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and Minister of State for Home Pradipsinh Jadeja on Tuesday. Later in the day, Khadwala had tested positive for COVID-19. He was accompanied by Congress MLAs Gyasuddin Sheikh and Shailesh Parmar. He had also convened a press conference after the meeting with Rupani.
Leading doctors R.K. Patel and Atul Patel checked Rupani on Wednesday morning and said he is fine and his all parameters are normal.
Ashwini Kumar, secretary to the chief minister, said Rupani would coordinate work and guide the administration with the aid of technologies like videoconferencing, video calling and telephone calls. The work will be carried out from the chief minister's residence as in normal situations, Kumar added.
In the last few days, Khedawala had been exhorting the minority community to come out for testing. He had been also helping teams of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation in zeroing in on people who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin last month.
Cases of COVID-19 had seen a spike from the walled city of Ahmedabad after people who had attended the Jamaat congregation tested positive.
Meanwhile, samples of Sheikh and Parmar have been taken and they have been asked to remain under home quarantine, until the results come.
Municipal commissioner Vijay Nehra said that senior Congress corporator Badruddinh Sheikh has also tested positive for coronavirus and he would be admitted to a hospital. His wife has also tested positive.
Khedawala testing positive for COVID-19 has also sparked off a debate on why he went for the meeting with the chief minister when his reports were pending. It is also being questioned as to why he was allowed for the meeting when it was an open secret that he had given his samples and the report was awaited. It is also being asked whether the Congress MLAs were screened before entering the meeting hall.