India / Home Minister Amit Shah tests negative for coronavirus, to stay in home isolation

New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah today tweeted he has tested negative for coronavirus. He had been staying at the private hospital Medanta in Gurgaon, near Delhi. "Today my coronavirus test report has come negative. I thank God and at the moment I express my heartfelt gratitude to all those who have blessed me and my family by wishing me well. Will stay in home isolation for a few more days on the advice of doctors," Mr Shah tweeted.

"I also thank all the doctors and paramedical staff of Medanta Hospital who have helped me in fighting Corona infection and who have been treating me," the Home Minister tweeted.

Mr Shah, 55, had taken part in a cabinet two weeks ago just before he was tested positive for the highly infectious COVID-19. The meeting was attended by all top ministers, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. All safety norms, including social distancing, were followed at the crucial meet, where the National Education Policy or NEP was approved.

Extensive contact tracing had been carried out and anyone who came in contact with the Home Minister was asked to self-isolate.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit and Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa were some other senior leaders who tested positive in recent times. Mr Chouhan recovered after spending over 10 days in hospital.

India reported 64,553 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the country's total case count to 24,61,190, according to Health Ministry data. India has been reporting the highest number of daily cases in world for the last 10 days.

According to World Health Organisation data, from August 4 to 13, the country has reported the highest number of daily cases globally. The recovery rate stands at 70.17 per cent, with 17,51,555 people recovering in the country from the highly-contagious disease. The number of COVID-19 deaths has increased by 1,007 in the past 24 hours and has thus reached 48,040.