Guwahati/Agartala, Aug 26 : Former Assam Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader Tarun Gogoi has become the 13th legislator in Assam to have tested positive for Covid-19, it was announced on Wednesday.
"I have been tested Covid-19 positive yesterday (Tuesday).
People who came in contact with me during the last few days requested for Covid test at the earliest," Gogoi tweeted on Wednesday.
Assam Health and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, in a tweet, said that a committee under the chairmanship of Jogesh Sarma, Head of Pulmonary Medicine Department of Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), has been constituted to monitor the health of Gogoi.
Congress spokesperson Rhituparna Konwar said that the 85-year-old veteran leader had been complaining of weakness after attending a few meetings on Tuesday.
"Doctors are attending Gogoi at his official residence.
His health condition has been improving since Tuesday while his family members tested negative," Konwar told the media.
The Congress leader represents the Titabar Assembly constituency in eastern Assam.
He held the post of Chief Minister for 15 years until the BJP came to power in Assam in 2016.
On Tuesday, Congress MLA and former Minister Ajanta Neog and and one from the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) were admitted to the GMCH after testing COVID-19 positive.
Of the 13 MLAs who have tested positive so far, seven are from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, three from Congress, two from AGP and one from the All India United Democratic Front.
The other prominent political leaders who tested positive in Assam included BJP's Rajya Sabha member Kamakhya Prasad Tasa and All India Mahila Congress president and former Lok Sabha member Sushmita Dev.
Several ministers, many sitting legislators, political leaders and their family members including Sikkim Health Minister M.K.
Sharma have tested positive for Covid-19 in different northeastern states.
Thirteen police personnel were among 252 people who succumbed to Covid-19 in Assam while 3,394 police personnel in the state have tested positive but 2,863 have already recovered.
National Health Mission (NHM) officials in Assam said that so far 94,592 people tested positive for the virus and 260 among them died.
Of the total 94,592 positive cases, 19,515 are active cases and 74,814 have recovered.
--IANS
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Source: IANS
