Punjab CM asks all ministers, officials to undergo COVID-19 test after Cabinet minister found infected

A day after one of his Cabinet colleagues tested positive for COVID-19, Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh on Wednesday urged all ministers, MLAs, secretaries and senior officials to get themselves tested for the Coronavirus.

Earlier, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, a Cabinet minister, tested positive for the infection.

The Chief Minister himself also underwent the test and was found to be negative, an official spokesperson said. Two other ministers, Sukhjinder Randhawa and Aruna Chowdhary, had also got themselves tested today, while some had undergone the test yesterday. Two Congress MLAs also went in for testing today. Their results are awaited.

During the Cabinet meeting, Capt Amarinder Singh said all the ministers and officials in various departments, especially those who might have come in contact with IAS/PCS officers who had been detected with COVID-19, should get themselves tested.

Bajwa was doing well, he informed the meeting, reiterating the need for extreme caution by all the ministers and others engaged in any kind of public dealing. Capt. Amarinder Singh has, in fact, been calling upon all the people of Punjab to go for testing at the first sign of any symptom or suspicion of COVID-19infection. Early detection is the way to beat the disease and check fatalities, he has stressed.