Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit tests Covid-19 positive

New Delhi: Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit has been infected with the coronavirus. He is not showing any “serious symptoms” and is recovering at his official residence in Chandigarh, PTI cited an official statement. Purohit, who is also the administrator of Union Territory Chandigarh, was detected with Covid-19 on Friday evening (August 5). 

“All those who came in contact with him are requested to isolate and get themselves tested”, the statement said. 

He had also tested positive for Covid-19 in 2020 when he was serving as the Tamil Nadu Governor. 

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday had asked the Health Department to be prepared for any contingency arising out of the Covid-19 spike and urged people to take necessary precautions. "It is the need of hour to ensure that people do not fall prey to the Covid-19 pandemic," Mann had said. 

Meanwhile, India reported 20,551 new Covid-19, which took the total tally to 4,41,07,588, as per the Union Health Ministry data on Friday (August 5). With 70 new fatalities, the death toll climbed to 5,26,600. The active cases have declined to 1,35,364, while the daily positivity rate was logged at 5.14 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 4.64 per cent. 

(With agency inputs)