Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on January 10 said he has tested positive for COVID-19 with "mild symptoms". The minister will remain under self-isolation.
Singh urged those who recently came in contact with him to get themselves tested for the contagious disease.
"I have tested positive for Corona today with mild symptoms. I am under home quarantine. I request everyone who have recently come in my contact to isolate themselves and get tested (sic)," the senior BJP leader tweeted.
Singh, 70, had addressed a BJP rally in Uttarkashi region of poll-bound Uttarakhand on January 6.
On January 9, Varun Gandhi, the BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh's Pillibhit, tested positive for coronavirus. "After being in Pilibhit for three days, I have tested positive for Covid with fairly strong symptoms," he had tweeted.
"We are now in the middle of a third wave and an election campaign. The Election Commission should extend precautionary doses to candidates and political workers as well," he added.
Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra on January 8 said all polling staff in the poll-bound states would be considered as frontline workers and will be eligible for the third vaccine dose.
Notably, an array of top politicians have been detected with COVID-19 over the past few days.
Former Samajwadi Party MP Dimple Yadav, wife of party president Akhilesh Yadav, tested positive on December 22. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was actively campaigning in the poll-bound states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab, was found infected on January 4.
Union Minister and BJP leader Rao Saheb Danve tested positive on January 8, and Haryana Deputy Chief Minister and Jannayak Janta Party chief Dushyant Chautala tweeted on January 9 that he has been diagnosed with COVID-19.
Union MoS for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar, MoS for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, Bihar deputy chief ministers Tarkishore Prasad and Renu Devi, Gujarat state minister Jitubhai Chaudhari, BJP MP Manoj Tiwari and East Delhi Mayor Shyam Sunder Aggarwal are among the politicians who tested positive in the past week.
In most cases, a mild infection has been detected, with the leaders and their close contacts being asked to remain under home quarantine.
Across India, the cumulative positivity rate has surged over 10 percent. The country on January 10 reported 1.79 lakh new infections, the highest since May last year. The fresh pandemic wave is considered to have been triggered by the highly contagious Omicron variant of coronavirus.
!["Delhi is ready to fight Covid, no need to worry,” says Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal](https://images.moneycontrol.com/static-mcnews/2021/04/arvind-kejriwal.jpg?impolicy=website&width=168&height=118 ""Delhi is ready to fight Covid, no need to worry,” says Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal")
