New Delhi: Defence secretary Ajay Kumar has tested positive for COVID-19, making him the highest ranking Central government official to be infected with the SARS-CoV2 virus, well-placed sources told The Wire on Wednesday.
The Wire has also learned that two key officials quarter-backing the government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis – Dr Balram Bhargava, head of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Vinod Paul of the Niti Aayog – are in self-isolation following the discovery of COVID cases among work colleagues.
Though neither Bhargava or Paul has tested positive, they are self-quarantining themselves for two weeks following the government-prescribed protocol in such situations.
Total COVID-19 cases in India now stand at over 216,000, of which 106,000 cases are active, and just over 6,000 people have died of the illness.
Defence secretary Ajay Kumar. Photo: @drajaykumar_ias/Twitter
The defence secretary’s diagnosis comes at an awkward time for the Ministry of Defence as senior Indian and Chinese military officers are due to hold talks on Saturday about the recent confrontation between soldiers from both countries along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh and Sikkim.
Last month, Ajay Kumar had told a newspaper that the constraints imposed by the coronavirus pandemic have “been one of the biggest challenges faced by the armed forces”.
“New SOPs had to be developed regarding what could be done and what could not be done. It is heartening to note that the armed forces have prepared and implemented SOPs to ensure that the forces remain operationally ready and do not get paralysed by the pandemic,” he said.
Among the Indian defence forces, the Navy has accounted for most of the reported positive cases. In April, 26 sailors posted on board INS Angre – a logistical and administrative support base –tested positive for COVID-19, all of them traced back to a single infected sailor.
The military had also been roped in to set up quarantine facilities for returning Indian nationals abroad, who had managed to return in flights before they were stopped in late March and India went down into lockdown.