BS Yediyurappa tested positive for coronavirus and was hospitalised late last evening.
Six staff members working in the office of the Karnataka Chief Minister have tested positive for coronavirus a day after BS Yediyurappa tested positive for the disease. Mr Yediyurappa was hospitalised late last evening. In a brief post on Twitter, Mr Yediyurappa said that he was fine but had been hospitalised on the advice of doctors.
Mr Yediyurappa's daughter Padmavathi has also tested positive, while his son, Vijayendra, has tested negative.
"I have tested positive for coronavirus. Whilst I am fine, I am being hospitalised as a precaution on recommendation of doctors. I request those who have come in contact with me recently to be observant and exercise self-quarantine," the tweet of the 77-year-old Chief Minister read.
"I got to know around 8.30 or 9 pm last night that I was Coronavirus positive. I came to the hospital immediately to take treatment. The doctors examined me last night and this morning and said, 'There is no problem. You should be discharged soon'," the Chief Minister said this morning.
He added that he has been in touch with officials "to make sure that work is not affected".
"Nobody should be worried. I will recover quickly and get back to work. May your blessings and support always be with me. Please make sure you wear a mask. That is the only way to escape this virus," he added.
"His going to a government hospital would have caused inconvenience to the general public," Deputy Chief Minister Dr Ashwathnarayan CN said, defending Mr Yediyurappa getting treatment at a private hospital.
Mr Yediyurappa's test results came in hours after Union Home Minister Amit Shah tested positive for the disease.
Yesterday, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit and former Union minister P Chidambaram's son Karti Chidambaram also tested positive.
Last week, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also tested positive. Today is his tenth day in hospital, where he is receiving treatment.
A minister from Uttar Pradesh, Kamal Rani Varun, died yesterday two weeks after she tested positive for the virus.
Karnataka logged 5,532 cases of coronavirus last evening, taking the statewide total to 1,34,819. Of these 745,90 are active cases. In state capital Bengaluru, 2,105 people tested positive, taking the total to 59,501, of which 37,513 are active cases
The countrywide numbers of COVID-19 crossed the 18-lakh mark on Monday, just a day after it went past 17 lakh mark, with 52,972 cases being reported within 24 hours.
Data from the Union Health Ministry showed the country has logged 18,03,695 infections.
With 771 COVID-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, the number of fatalities has climbed to 38,135, the government said.