BJP's Manoj Tiwari Tests Positive For Second Time, Says Mild Fever, Cold

BJP MP Manoj Tiwari has joined a list of politicians who have tested positive for COVID-19. In a tweet this morning, Mr Tiwari said he is isolating himself after he tested positive for a second time.

Mr Tiwari tweeted he was feeling unwell on Sunday, following which he gave his samples for testing.

"I was feeling unwell. Due to a mild fever and cold, I could not even go for the Uttarakhand-Rudrapur campaign yesterday. The test result that came today shows I am positive. Taking precaution, have isolated myself. Please take care of yourself and your family," Mr Tiwari tweeted in Hindi.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Union Minister Mahendra Nath Pandey are among the politicians who said they have tested positive today.

The threat of COVID-19 and the fast-spreading Omicron variant looms over elections in states like Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, where political parties continue to hold rallies. The Election Commission has said political parties want polls to be held with following strict COVID-19 safety guidelines.

Mr Kejriwal was seen in a huge crowd in Punjab before he tweeted that he has tested positive.

The Omicron variant is driving most of the cases in Delhi, say experts. "As per genome sequencing reports of December 30-31 from three labs, 81 per cent samples were infected with Omicron. Most of the cases are of Omicron," Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain said.

A large chunk of Omicron cases in India as the country faces a third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic have been reported from big cities, the head of the country's vaccine task force told NDTV yesterday, adding the third wave of the pandemic is very much here.

Large cities like Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata have a combined 75 per cent share of infections of the highly transmissible coronavirus variant Omicron that was first detected in South Africa in November, said Dr NK Arora, who has been very closely involved with the rollout of vaccines from the very onset.