COIMBATORE: Vasantham K Karthikeyan, the DMK MLA from Rishivandhiyam, tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday. He is the second legislator from the DMK and third in the state to contract the infection.
Sources said that the 43-year-old legislator and six of his family had been under quarantine since June 13 when his wife and daughter tested positive.
Karthikeyan and his mother tested positive on Sunday. Health officials in Coimbatore said that the MLA, his mother, wife and daughter had been admitted to a private hospital in the city for treatment.
Meanwhile, DMK president M K Stalin posted a tweet stating that the MLA had worked tirelessly during the lockdown and had helped many people.
"Now he is being treated for Covid-19. I contacted him and he spoke to me with confidence. Soon he will recover and work for the public again," Stalin said on Twitter.
Karthikeyan is the second DMK MLA and third Tamil Nadu legislator to test positive for the coronavirus.
J Anbazhagan, the DMK MLA from Chepauk-Triplicane, contracted the virus in the beginning of the month. He died on June 10, his 62nd birthday.
On June 13, the AIADMK’s Sriperumbudur MLA K Palani tested positive for coronavirus.