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Congress leader Udit Raj spreads misinformation about coronavirus test kits, ICMR calls out the fake news

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Congress leader Udit Raj spreads misinformation about coronavirus test kits, ICMR calls out the fake news

Congress leader Dr Udit Raj on Sunday took to Twitter to claim that as many as 17 companies in India were ready to provide coronavirus testing kits for as low as Rs 500 but PM Modi gave the contract to one Gujarat-based company for Rs 4,500 per kit.

Udit Raj’s tweet on coronavirus kits

However, on Monday, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) called out Raj’s fake news and said that the price ranged approved by ICMR for PT-PCR is Rs 740-1150 while it is Rs 528-795 for rapid test kits.

The ICMR clarified that no test kit has been procured at Rs 4,500 and that if any Indian company wishes to supply the kits at a lower rate is welcomed.

Misinformation and falsehood regarding ICMR

Earlier this month, the ICMR had refuted the media claims that the Modi government did not consult experts before extending the nationwide lockdown till May 3 to contain the spread of Chinese coronavirus. Quoting anonymous member of the COVID-19 Task Force, the Caravan Magazine had claimed that the committee hadn’t met all of last week ahead of announcement of lockdown extension. Citing another nameless member of the Task Force, Caravan made further claims that the Task Force was also not kept in the loop of the developments.

Speaking to OpIndia, Vinod Paul, NITI Aayog Member and Chairman of the Task Force, said, “India’s scientific and health experts are playing an important role in the fight against COVID-19. The task force is leveraging the best minds and playing a leading role in decision making. In addition, I’m regularly briefing the PM and getting his inputs. The attempts to invoke sensationalism and create fissures where none exists are unfortunate. Such efforts by a media outlet damage our national endeavour to fight this pandemic.”

Coronavirus scare: 33 health workers infected, 145 people quarantined in Delhi’s Max Hospital, Pratapganj

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Coronavirus scare: 33 health workers infected, 145 people quarantined in Delhi’s Max Hospital, Pratapganj

On Monday, 33 healthcare workers including a doctor have reportedly been diagnosed with the Wuhan Coronavirus at the Max Super Speciality Hospital in Patparganj, Delhi. While the nurses’ hostel wing of the hospital has been sealed, 145 people have been quarantined.

On April 15, the said hospital had decided to test all its staff members. The authorities are now trying to determine the source of the Chinese virus as Coronavirus patients were not being treated at this branch of the hospital. As per reports, the hospital staff who had tested positive for the Chinese virus were not in-charge of infected patients.

“The hospital is being sanitised and the staff who were tested positive were moved to Max Hospital, Saket, East Wing, which is a COVID treatment facility. Also, 145 nurses working at the Patparganj hospital have been quarantined,” a hospital spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Increasing instances of healthcare staffers getting coronavirus infection

There have been many instances of doctors and healthcare professionals getting infected with the coronavirus. Several healthcare officials in Maharashtra have been put under quarantine after such incidents. The cases of doctors becoming infected with the virus represent a difficult situation because at the time of the pandemic, the health and well being of frontline warriors is crucial.

Earlier, a railway station employee in Nizamuddin, New Delhi was found coronavirus positive. Eventually 15 healthcare workers, including doctors of the railway hospital were found infected too. A senior doctor working in the dedicated COVID-19 care facility in Pune’s Sassoon hospital was found infected too.

In Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, 34 police personnel were found infected with the coronavirus, allegedly from coming in close contact of suspected Tablighi Jamaat members while performing their duty.

2 days back, 40 staffers in Delhi’s AIIMS, including doctors and nurses were put under quarantine after a nurse was found coronavirus positive.

Pakistani tweeps attack feminists for criticising Tablighi Jamaat Maulana Tariq Jamil who blamed women for coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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Pakistani tweeps attack feminists for criticising Tablighi Jamaat Maulana Tariq Jamil who blamed women for coronavirus

Pakistanis on social media have come out in support of Maulana Tariq Jamil of Tablighi Jamaat who had blamed women for spread of Chinese coronavirus.

One Mir Mohammad AliKhan, who identifies himself as an author on social media, reminded the critics of Maulana that Pakistan is an “Islamic” republic and if ‘libtard’ women who think wearing bikinis and walking around with contraceptives ‘is their way of life’, then they should move to south of France.

Mir Mohammad AliKhan has been accused of financial fraud and reportedly a fugitive from justice in New York. He has various cases against him concerning security crimes.

Dawn News journalist Meher Bokhari, too, came out in support of Tariq Jamil whom she referred to as ‘Deen man’.

The bar is set so low that she felt that he should be forgiven because despite being a religious scholar, and not a scientist or a doctor, he ‘still apologised’ as it is something Pakistanis are not used to.

Another TV host and owner of a salon chain, Rabia Anum Obaid also wanted to praise the Maulana for apologising after blaming women for coronavirus.

Pakistan Prime Minister Iman Khan supporter Mohammad Usama even said that only 0.1% of ‘behaya feminist tola’ who are like ‘barking dogs’ are opposing the Maulana.

He also blamed feminists for making Islam ‘dirty’.

Pakistani actress Humaima Malick compared Maulana Jamil to father scolding their child.

Maulana Tariq Jamil on coronavirus

Maulana Tariq Jamil, a religious preacher of the Tablighi Jamaat and a scholar, was seen crying profusely on Pakistani television during a fundraising event attended by Prime Minister Imran Khan. During his address prior to the prayer, Maulana Tariq Jamil spoke about the plagues in earlier times and claimed that these were natural disasters sent by God and begging for repentance from Allah was the only way for humans to rid themselves of the calamity. He also offered sermons on the kind of clothes women should wear. Expressing dismay, he said, “Hamare betiyon ko kaun nacha raha hai? (Who is making our daughters dance?)” He said that when Muslim women and the youth indulge in shameless and immodest behaviour, then Allah inflicts pain and agony on humans.

Soon after his show, Pakistan’s “Human Rights Commission” tweeted that it was appalled that Maulana Jamil correlated women’s modesty to coronavirus.

Other Pakistanis also slammed Jamil for his distasteful comment.

However, now it seems he has managed to garner more support than criticism over blaming women for spreading coronavirus.

Challenges and recent advancements in the fight against Coronavirus: JNU organises a 2-day international webinar

OpIndia Staff
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Challenges and recent advancements in the fight against Coronavirus: JNU organises a 2-day international webinar

The Jawaharlal Nehru University organized an international webinar on the Coronavirus Pandemic to discuss the challenges and the recent developments on its preventive measures. Over 1000 participants across the globe registered, and hundreds of them successfully attended the webinar through online mode. 

The meeting was inaugurated by the Vice-Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Prof. M Jagadesh Kumar, who praised the initiative and discussed the role of digital medium in the modern-day education system. Prof. Kumar emphasized that digitization of the education system will gain further importance in the post-COVID era, and JNU will be leading the movement, which will be an efficient way to make education available to all. The organizing committee, comprising conveners Prof.  Gobardhan Das, Special Center for Molecular Medicine, JNU, Dr Arnab Bhattacharya, School of Computational & Integrative Sciences, and Coordinator Dr Saurabh Kumar Sharma, School of Computer & Systems Sciences of JNU ensured seamless two-days lectures of the webinar. Leading scientists across the globe, including from countries like China, Italy, the USA, and India, presented their research related to characterization and preventive measures for COVID-19.

The first speaker of the first day on 25th April was Prof Gobardhan Das, Special Center for Molecular Medicine, JNU. He discussed his ongoing research on BCG vaccine that can be effective to combat the current outbreak of COVID 19. He presented some interesting data analysis done by the group of Dr. Arnab Bhattacharya in support of his claim. Prof. Debprasad Chattopadhyay, Director, ICMR-NITM, then discussed the traditional medicine approach to counter the pandemic. 

Prof Yufang Shi from Shanghai, China, joined the webinar as a speaker and discussed the immune responses in COVID-19 patients. He explained how China handled the COVID-19 Pandemic and also explained specifically the importance of lockdown. 

Prof Arun Kharat from School of Life Sciences, JNU, discussed the Indian scenario of the coronavirus pandemic and possible means to halt the rapid progression. He explained the comparative study within the Indian state and How India is fighting with this COVID-19 in comparison to the whole world. Following it, Dr RK Brojen Singh from School of Computational and Integrative Sciences, JNU,  discussed the complexity in SARS-CoV-2 genome data through the price theory of epidemic by using  Mathematical Modelling.

The second day of the webinar commenced with a note from Prof. Rana Pratap Singh, Rector, and also the Pro Vice Chancellor of the Jawaharlal Nehru University. Prof. Singh, who is a distinguished cancer biologist, presented a compact overview of how coronavirus is causing death in humans. This has set the tone for the second lecture of the session given by Prof. Saumitra Das, who is a virologist of international repute and also the current director of the National Institue of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG). Along the line, Prof. Vibha Tandon, a professor at the Special Centre for Molecular Medicine, JNU, discussed the experimental methods to identify small molecules as a potential drug of the coronavirus infection. Prof. Neel Sarovar Bhavesh (Group Leader, ICGEB) depicted various molecular biological aspects of in silico discovery of coronavirus drugs through an illustrative presentation. 

Prof. Enrico Bucci (Director, Research Integrity Solution), who joined the webinar from the USA talked about the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic and its potential transmission from bats to humans

Prof. Gerry Melino, the Editor in Chief, Nature Cell Death, and Differentiation journal, was the last speaker of the session, who joined from Italy and presented an excellent lecture on a comparative study highlighting the differences in COVID-19 scenarios in Italy and China. 

The webinar ended successfully with a vote of thanks from the convener Prof. Gobardhan Das and Dr. Arnab Bhattacharya. 

Overall, the webinar received very positive response from its huge number of participants. Altogether, the organizers received over 1000 registrations for the two-day long webinar, among which around 300 were faculty. Approximately 800 students joined from the various 84 national, international universities and institutions such as JNU, IITs, DU, BHU, Canadian Institute for Genomics and Society, Shanghai Institute of Biological Sciences, China, NPRC Texas, University of Rome, Italy etc.

The webinar was organised in collaboration with ‘Labify’ which is a web-based application and helps research labs to keep a record of project funds and compliance documents. 

Suicide bombings are permitted by Sharia Law: Grand Mufti Of Libya Sheikh Sadiq Al-Ghariani

OpIndia Staff
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Suicide bombings are permitted by Sharia Law: Grand Mufti Of Libya Sheikh Sadiq Al-Ghariani

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Grand Mufti of Libya Sheikh Sadiq Al-Ghariani has stated that the Sharia law allows suicide bombings provided they are carried out to rattle the enemy, demoralise them and cause great harm and losses to the enemy.

In a video that was broadcasted on Al-Tanasuh TV (Libya) on April 15, 2020, the Mufti said, “If blowing up oneself while carrying out a suicide operation unnerves the enemy and results in his crushing defeat, then it is permitted by the Sharia law. Even Prophet Muhammad’s associates hurled themselves from walls. They gave up their life in order to weaken the enemy.”

“If a person is confident that this act will cause grave damage to the enemy or have a significant impact on the result, and that this attack will cause extensive destruction and bring about crushing losses to the enemy, then it is allowed by Sharia law. However, it is not allowed to kill oneself,” Mufti added, as per a report in Memri.

Suicide bombings and terrorists

Suicide bombings are a recurrent feature of conflicts involving Islamic fanatics. The Islamic zealots have often taken the refuge of suicide killings as a pivotal instrument to further their asymmetric warfare against nations and organisations perceived by them as their enemies. The extremists routinely cite Islamic scriptures and laws and distort the concepts of ‘sacrifice’, ‘martyrdom’ and ‘jihad to justify suicide killings by their kin. This is the modus operandi followed by the Islamic State(ISIS), Al Qaeda and other Islamic terror organisations. It is by this doctrine that last year a Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorist blew himself up by ramming his car laden with 300 kgs of explosives with one of the vehicles in the CRPF convoy, killing 40 CRPF personnel in India’s Pulwama. In April 2019, multiple suicide bombings in Sri Lanka had killed over 300 civilians.

Government junks report by IRS officials that suggested tax hike, orders probe against concerned officers for violation of code of conduct

OpIndia Staff
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Government junks report by IRS officials that suggested tax hike, orders probe against concerned officers for violation of code of conduct

On Sunday, the Finance Ministry had junked an unsolicited report titled ‘Force 1.0’ (Fiscal Options & Response to Covid-19 Epidemic) drafted by 50 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officers on the official Twitter handle of the IRS Association. The Chairperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has also been directed by the Ministry to seek an explanation from the officers about their misconduct.

An inquiry has been initiated into the matter to check whether the “ill-conceived views” aired by the officers violate Extant Conduct Rules. While reiterating that CBDT did not ask the IRS officers to prepare any such report, it further stated that the unauthorised views of the officers did not reflect the official stand of the Finance Ministry of the CBDT.

The Contentious Report

In the contentious report, the IRS officers suggested introducing the ‘wealth tax’, over-burdening the rich, and charging an additional 4% cess to bridge revenue deficit caused due to the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak. As per the 43-page report, the Government can earn up to ₹18,000 crores by implementing the suggested proposals.

One of the recommendations of the report was the introduction of the wealth tax to be charged to those with a net worth of ₹5 crores or more. Besides, the IRS officers suggested levying a one-time 4% ‘COVID Relief Cess’ on individuals with more than ₹10 lac annual income. Moreover, the document also proposed taxing individuals with more than ₹1 crore annual income at 40%, which is 10% higher than the current 30%. As such, the income tax liability on such individuals will be close to 56%.

Along with the above measures, the IRS officers also recommended increased surcharges for foreign companies in India, creation of an amnesty scheme to collect unpaid tax, sanctioning of ‘Coronavirus Savings Certificates’ for investments not more than ₹2.5 lacs for 5 years, taxation of multinational firms making royalty payments to their parent companies and 3% equalisation charge to e-commerce companies.

Finance Ministry miffed over the report

The report drew the ire of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) for two primary reasons. First, the action of the IRS officers is in direct violation of the rules of conduct that prohibits them to air their personal views without the government’s permission. Second, the report has come to light at a time when the Central Government is trying to win over the trust of corporate houses and industrialists.

“Increased taxes or proposals are bad news to improve the confidence of the industrialists and corporates in the current situation. There is distress and the government is looking at incentivising businesses to restart the economy”, an MoF official was quoted as saying.

IRS distances itself

Soon after the so-called report received massive criticism on social media platforms, the IRS association distanced itself from the controversy. In a statement, the IRS association stated that the concerned paper prepared by young officers suggesting policy measures has been forwarded by the association for the consideration of the government. It does not represent the official view of the entire IRS or the I-T department.

Economic Measures announced in March

In a press conference held last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made key announcements amidst coronavirus crisis that has wrought havoc on the economic mood of the country. In a big relief to direct taxpayers, the Finance Minister extended the last date for filing personal income tax for FY 2018-2019 to June 30, 2020. Moreover, the interest rate levied on delayed payments have also been reduced to 9% from 12%.

The Central Government has also extended the deadline for filing Goods and Services Tax (GST) returns for March, April, and May 2020 to 30 June 2020. For companies with annual turnover less than ₹5 crores, no interest/late fee/penalty will be charged. For businesses with higher turnover than 5 crores, only the interest amount will be charged. Late fee and penalty have been waived.

Congress supporters compare Sonia Gandhi to Goddess Sita

OpIndia Staff
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Congress supporters compare Sonia Gandhi to Goddess Sita

Days after hailing and saluting their interim party president Sonia Gandhi with revered slogans like ‘Maa Tujhe Salaam’ and calling her ‘mother’, Congress supporters have now compared her to Goddess Sita.

A social media handle ‘With Congress’ which refers to itself as ‘biggest online initiative’ by volunteers at Congress, shared an image which stated that like Sonia Gandhi alias Antonia Maino, who has roots in Italy, Goddess Sita, too, had roots in Nepal. ‘With Congress’ stated that in Tretayug, a ‘rakshas’ (demon) had questioned Goddess Sita’s character and insulted her while in Kalyug, a ‘rakshas’ has questioned Sonia Gandhi’s character and abused her.

The comparison with Goddess Sita comes soon after Sonia Gandhi’s silence over Palghar Sadhu lynching was questioned. Sonia Gandhi’s party, Congress, is in power in Maharashtra in alliance with NCP and Shiv Sena. Last week, two Sadhus were lynched by a mob in Palghar, Maharashtra.

The ‘With Congress’ social media account is followed by verified Twitter handles such as official Congress account, Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh, Alka Lamba, journalists like Rahul Kanwal, Gargi Rawat and also Aam Aadmi Party leaders like MLA Raghav Chadha.The ‘With Congress’ social media account is followed by verified Twitter handles such as official Congress account, Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh, Alka Lamba, journalists like Rahul Kanwal, Gargi Rawat and also Aam Aadmi Party leaders like MLA Raghav Chadha.

People following ‘With Congress’

The same image was also posted on its Facebook page which has over a million ‘likes’.

Facebook post comparing Sonia Gandhi to Goddess Sita

Arnab Goswami attacked by Congress goons

Last week, referring to Sonia Gandhi by her maiden name, Republic TV’s Editor in Chief Arnab Goswami had questioned Congress Interim President’s silence over Palghar lynching. Following the debate, many Congress leaders and supporters took to social media and attacked Goswami for the same. They threatened with legal action for ‘insulting’ Sonia Gandhi. Hours later, Goswami and his wife were attacked by two men, associated with Youth Congress near their residence in Mumbai.

On Monday, Mumbai Police sent two notices to Goswami in a span of 12 hours for immediate interrogation. Goswami then issued a statement that he will make himself available for interrogation with Mumbai Police on Monday morning.

Karnataka: CRPF COBRA commando beaten, humiliated and tied up in chains by police, was assaulted for cleaning his bike in front of his house

OpIndia Staff
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Karnataka: CRPF COBRA commando beaten, humiliated and tied up in chains by police, was assaulted for cleaning his bike in front of his house

In a shocking incident, Sachin Sunil Savant, a CRPF COBRA commando was beaten, abused, humiliated and dragged to the police station in Belgavi district, Karnataka.

A twitter user Mithanshu had shared the story of the COBRA commando in a post, detailing the incident. The CRPF staffer was seen tied up in chains in the police station.

In a note, Mithanshu had informed that the CRPF jawan was on leave and in his home in Yaksamba village in the Chikkodi Taluk in Belgavi district. On 23 April, the jawan was cleaning his bike in front of his house when he was approached by the police and accosted for not wearing a mask. Sachin Sawant was then allegedly beaten by the police personnel, without any warning.

Despite informing the police personnel that he is a CRPF commando and is currently on leave, and since he was cleaning his bike in front of his own house and not going anywhere, and thus he did not need to wear a mask, the police personnel allegedly kept beating and abusing him.

Mithanshu’s post added that Sachin Savant then was paraded to the police station in handcuffs and was put under custody. The SHO of the police station had allegedly registered an FIR under section 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty),504 & 505 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of IPC. Mithanshu has informed that the FIR has been registered without informing the controlling authority of the CRPF commando.

As per a report in News 18, Belgavi SP Laxman Nimbargi stated, “An argument started regarding central police versus state police, the CRPF jawan then held the collar of our constable and started kicking him, the head constable then had to rescue his colleague, that’s when you see him using the lathi, based on which the FIR was registered”.

The police have also stated that during interrogation, the CRPF staffer has admitted that he was in a foul mood because of a fight in his household.

In a video of the incident shared by journalist Soumyadipta, the commando is seen standing near a bike (his service bike, as per reports), while multiple police personnel argue with him. One police official is even seen holding the pants of the CRPF jawan in a humiliating manner, in an apparent attempt to stop him. The police officials repeatedly push and shove the jawan.

In the video, after some argument, the jawan is attacked with a lathi by the police. After that, the jawan also retaliates.

As per Soumyadipta’s post, Sachin Savant is posted with the 27 COBRA commando Battalion and was on leave. However, he was reportedly tying to explain to the police officials that he was servicing his bike, because the COBRA commandos have to always remain on standby for any emergency. As per the post, since he was neither loitering or roaming around, he was not violating the lockdown rules in any manner.

Soumyadipta has further informed that the Belgavi police has now written to Sachin Savant’s commanding officer in Bengal, informing about the Jawan’s arrest. The letter, however, states that Savant has abused and attacked the police officials first.

The images of the jawan being tied up in chains and the video of the incident have created a furore on social media.

Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh, media water down Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist, refer to him as ‘activist’

OpIndia Staff
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Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh, media water down Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist, refer to him as ‘activist’

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh’s office on Sunday took to Twitter to appreciate Punjab Police in its breakthrough where they arrested one Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist and recovered Rs 29 lakh from him. Except, in its tweet, the Punjab Chief Minister whitewashed the terrorist and referred to him as an ‘activist’.

Punjab CMO tweet (image: @pakautweet on Twitter)

The terrorist was identified as one Hilal Ahmed Wagey is reportedly a resident of Nowgam in Pulwama, Kashmir. Many media outlets, too, referred to him as ‘activist’.

The Hindu refers to Hizbul terrorist as ‘activist’
Hindustan Times

New agency PTI, too, referred to the Hizbul terrorist as ‘activist’.

PTI
The New Indian Express on Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist

Soon, Punjab Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Captain Amarinder Singh faced severe backlash for whitewashing the Hizbul terrorist by referring to him as activist.

Soon after the backlash, CMO Punjab deleted the tweet and posted another tweet identifying Hilal as Hizbul terrorist this time.

Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist caught in Amritsar

Hizbul Mujahideen is a Pakistan-sponsored designated terror group which carries out terrorist attacks on Indian soil on Indians. Hilal had reportedly visited Amritsar on instructions of the chief of Hizbul Mujahideen Riyaz Ahmed Naiku, for collecting money. The money was delivered to him by an unidentified man on a two-wheeler.

Media and terrorists

Following the killing of ISIS chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Washington Post had glorified the terrorist in its obituary and referred to him as an ‘austere religious scholar at helm of Islamic State’ as if Baghdadi being an ‘austere religious scholar’ was his primary identity. After public backlash, Washington Post changed its headline to refer to him as ‘extremist leader of Islamic State’.

Gujarat: Senior Congress leader Badruddin Sheikh succumbs to coronavirus

OpIndia Staff
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Gujarat: Senior Congress leader Badruddin Sheikh succumbs to coronavirus

Senior Congress leader from Gujarat Badruddin Sheikh succumbed to coronavirus. He was the former leader of opposition in Amdavad Municipal Corporation.

As reported by Ahmedabad Mirror Resident Editor, he passed away earlier today. After having tested positive for coronavirus, Sheikh’s health had deteriorated and he was put on ventilator.

Gujarat Congress MLA Imran Khedawala tested positive

Earlier this month, Gujarat Congress MLA Imran Khedawala had tested positive for coronavirus and was admitted to SVP Hospital. Khedawala, along with two other Congress leaders Gyasuddin Sheikh and Shailesh Parmar had visited Chief Minister Vijay Rupani the day he tested positive. Rupani and others have not yet shown any symptoms of coronavirus.

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