Vice president Venkaiah Naidu tests Covid positive, goes into self-isolation

Vice president of India M Venkaiah Naidu tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Sunday. In a post from his official Twitter handle, Naidu tweeted saying he has tested positive for the coronavirus infection and that he’ll be going into self-isolation for a week. He also advised his close contacts to get themselves tested and isolate to cut the further spread of the virus.

“The Vice President, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, who is in Hyderabad, tested COVID positive today,” read a post on the official Twitter handle of the Vice President of India. “He has decided to remain in self-isolation for a week. He has advised all those who came in contact with him to isolate themselves and get tested.”

Earlier in the day, the vice president had paid his floral tributes to “Netaji” Subhash Chandra Bose in Hyderabad on the occasion of the latter’s 125th birth anniversary on January 23. “He [Netaji] personified selfless devotion to the cause of motherland,” the vice president said. “The entire nation fondly remembers and salutes the legendary leader on Parakram Divas today.”

Meanwhile, India registered 3,33,533 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, slightly lower than the previous day, showed the Union health ministry’s data updated on Sunday morning. The death toll spiked to 4,89,409 with 525 new fatalities.

The state of Telangana, where the vice president is at, had reported as many as 4,393 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, which pushed the cumulative infection tally to 7,31,212. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) saw 1,643 cases followed by the districts of Medchal Malkajgiri (421) and Ranga Reddy (286), said the state health department bulletin.

Notably, India is the world’s second worst-hit country by the coronavirus pandemic after the United States.

More than 1.6 billion vaccine doses have also been administered so far under nationwide vaccination drive. This takes into account 71,10,445 vaccine doses administered in the last 24 hours, including 5,42,321 booster or ‘precautionary’ doses.