Manipur's social welfare minister tests COVID-19 positive

Guwahati: Nemcha Kipgen, the only woman minister from Manipur, tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Monday (August 25). Kipgen has become the first minister in the state to test positive for the dreaded contagion.

As per reports, the swab sample of Kipgen, who holds the social welfare portfolio in the state, was tested for COVID-19 at Babina Diagnostics in Imphal and her status was revealed as "positive."

Earlier, the 57-year-old had said that her sample was retested at Kangpokpi district hospital and she was waiting for the result.

After testing positive, the social welfare minister herself took to social media to share the news of her diagnosis. On Tuesday morning, she wrote on Facebook that she had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Kipgen, in her Facebook post, also requested the individuals who had come in close contact with her over the past few days to isolate themselves and get tested as a precautionary measure.

"After getting symptoms of Coronavirus, I got myself tested and the report came back positive. I sincerely request all of you who have come in contact with me in the past few days to kindly isolate yourselves and get yourselves tested at the earliest", she wrote in the post.

Earlier, an MLA from Manipur, Congress' Md Fazur Rahim who represents the Wabgai constituency, had tested positive for the novel coronavirus. He was on home isolation after he returned from Delhi and tested positive for COVID-19 on August 10. Rahim has since recovered from the infectious disease.

97 persons were discharged from different COVID Care Centres in the past 24 hours across Manipur, thus improving the recovery rate to 69.24 per cent. Meanwhile, 116 including 42 personnel from the Central Armed Police Force were confirmed as new COVID-19 positive cases in the last 24 hours in Manipur. Among the new cases, 71 locals do not have travel history.

Manipur has recorded total positive cases of 5,362 and out of this 3,713 have fully recovered and discharged from different COVID Care Centres so far. The number of active cases now is 1,627. There have been 22 coronavirus-related deaths in the Northeastern state so far.

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