Union minister V Muraleedharan has gone into self-quarantine after he held a meeting with a doctor in Kerala, who tested positive for the novel coronavirus after coming back from Spain, reports said on Tuesday.
The Union minister of state for external affairs had held a meeting at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram last week in which the infected doctor also participated.
The doctor, a radiologist, had tested positive on Sunday and returned from Spain on March 1. He had joined his duty two days after he returned.
Although he disclosed his travel history, he was asked to join his work as he did not show any symptoms. He fell ill on March 13 and tested positive on March 15.
One of the premier medical institutions in Kerala, the hospital is under the Union science and technology ministry.
India has reported 125 cases of coronavirus and that the disease has spread to 15 states and Union territories. There have been three coronavirus deaths—one each in Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra, so far.
There are seven new cases in Maharashtra, two in Karnataka, one each in Kerala and Telangana.
Government data shows Maharashtra has 36 cases of Covid-19, including three foreign nationals, and Kerala has reported 22. Uttar Pradesh follows with 12 patients, Karnataka 8, Delhi 7 and Telangana with four cases of coronavirus, according to the data.
Union territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir have reported four and two cases respectively. Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, have just one positive case each, as per the data.
