LUCKNOW (INDIA) – A prominent religious leader who shared the dais with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a ceremony to launch the construction of a temple tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.
After Modi’s top cabinet colleagues, Nritya Gopal Das, an 82-year-old Hindu priest, is the latest public figure to test positive. Earlier, interior minister Amit Shah had said he too was infected.
With the country recording 66,999 cases on Thursday, there are now 2.4 million infections, said the health ministry and India is behind only the US and Brazil. With lockdown curbs being lifted, the country has been reporting 50,000 new cases each day. The death toll stands at 47,033.
Modi and Das were among 170 dignitaries who took part in the launch of the temple construction in the town of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state.
Dr Murli Singh, director of information in Ayodhya, said the priest has been moved to a hospital near Delhi, adding that he had tested negative at the time of the ceremony and therefore posed no risk to the prime minister.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field