Vijay Rupani goes into quarantine after meeting Covid-19 positive MLA

Rupani had met Congress MLA Imran Khedawala, who was later found to be Covid-19 positive

Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani has quarantined himself for a week after he met a Covid-19 positive Congress member of legislative assembly (MLA) Imran Khedawala.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, secretary to the CM, Ashwani Kumar said that nobody would be allowed to meet Rupani for a week. "However, the chief minister will continue to work, operate and delegate decisions via video conferencing from his residence," Kumar stated.

While a team of medical experts and doctors, led by Dr R K Patel and Dr Atul Patel, conducted medical examination on Rupani and found him completely fit with all parameters normal, the Gujarat chief minister has chosen to quarantine himself at his residence.

Rupani had recently met three Congress MLAs including Sailesh Parmar from Danilimda seat, Gyasuddin Sheikh from Dariapur and Imran Khedawala from Jamalpur to discuss ways to contain Covid-19 spread in their respective constituencies which were identified as hotspots. Of these, Khedawala had undergone testing after complaining of fever and cold for a couple of days, but was awaiting results when he met Rupani. 

Apart from the CM, Khedawala had also met deputy chief minister Nitin Patel and minister of state for home Pradeepsinh Jadeja on Tuesday. However, test results later revealed that Khedawala was Covid-19 positive. According to sources, Patel and Jadeja, too, seem to have gone for social distancing as they continue to monitor government operations remotely from their residences.

Earlier in its statement, the state government termed Khedawala's act of meeting people while awaiting Covid-19 test results as irresponsible. "His samples were collected a day before and the results were awaited. In such a situation, he should have avoided meeting people, which he didn't do and committed a mistake," the government stated. 

However, later on Wednesday, Rupani spoke with all the three MLAs, including Khedawala, and enquired about their health, while offering any additional medical assistance. 

As of now, Khedawala is being treated at an Ahmedabad hospital, whereas Sheikh and Parmar have home quarantined themselves. Moreover, medical tests are being carried out on all those who came in contact with Khedawala.

Meanwhile, the state health department reported 56 new positive cases in the state on Wednesday morning. Of these, 42 cases were from the cluster areas of Ahmedabad city with two deaths being reported in the past 12 hours in Gujarat. The total number of positive cases in the state now stands at 695 with 30 deaths, while 59 have been treated and discharged from the hospital.