DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj, his wife, son, daughter-in-law and former minister Amrita Rawat has tested positive for COVID-19.
The state government on Sunday said that the cabinet ministers including the Chief Minister will be tested for the viral infection and be quarantined.
Madan Kaushik, a state cabinet minister said, "The decision will be taken in accordance with guidelines soon. The ministers those attended the cabinet meeting will be quarantined."
Total 42 including staff, family members and close to the family of the minister were quarantined in All India Institute of Medical Science, Rishikesh to make sure they do not come in contact with any other person.
All these 42 people live in the minister's residence including his family, staff and followers.
After the news of the cabinet minister and his family members testing positive came to light, the decision was taken to test the whole cabinet, said, government officials.
Apart from two cabinet ministers, all the members including CM attended the cabinet meeting on May 29.
As the news of the minister and others testing positive came out, panic gripped the state government officials and almost every one of them refused to come on record to comment on the matter.
"The design about how to go public about this will be taken soon. A statement will be issued in this regard," added a senior government official on the condition of anonymity.
Uttarakhand registered 105 new positive cases on Sunday taking total tally in the hill state to 907. As cases continue to rise in the state, senior government officials denied community spread in the hilly state.
Maharaj, who had attended a meeting of the state cabinet on Friday last, and the rest of the family have been home quarantined at their residence in the city.
Rawat's swab sample report confirming that she is COVID-19 positive arrived from a private lab late on Saturday evening, the minister's OSD Abhishek Sharma said.