Gujarat Prime Minister Vijay Rupani quarantined after meeting with coronavirus-positive MLA

The videos of the meeting with Vijay Rupani show that they followed the rules of social distancing.

Mumbai

Gujarat’s Vijay Rupani became the country’s first prime minister to be quarantined after an MLA who attended a meeting with him yesterday turned out to be a positive coronavirus. Imran Khedawala, the MLA of the Jamalpur-Khadia Congress, attended the meeting at the home of the Chief Minister together with the Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel and the Minister of State for the Pradeepsinh Jadeja Home.

Two other MLAs from the city’s Congress, Gyasuddin Shaikh and Shailesh Parmar, were also present at the meeting.

The videos of the meeting showed that they followed the rules of social distancing and sat at least a meter away. Rupani went into quarantine on his own after learning that the MLA tested positive.

Mr. Rupani’s office said his health was fine and that he would direct the state administration through videoconference, video and phone calls.

“No visitors will be allowed into the prime minister’s residence for the next week,” said Ashwani Kumar, secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office (CMO), according to the Press Trust news agency in India.

Sources said that Mr. Khedawala was at temperature for several days and that he had given samples for analysis. But he attended the meeting before the results were released, the sources said.

The MLA had also attended a press conference, where other MLAs and health officials were present.

Mr. Khedawala is currently admitted to the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Hospital in Gandhinagar, a center dedicated to treating patients with COVID-19.

Management is investigating how many people shared space with the MLA and will need to be quarantined.

Announcing an extension of the blockade, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the next seven days will be crucial to stem the spread of the virus. During this period, each district will be scanned as the Center will verify if the blockade is being implemented correctly, he said.

Gujarat has seen 650 cases of coronavirus, 59 patients have recovered and 28 are dead.