Chandigarh, August 26: Ahead of the upcoming Punjab Assembly session from Friday, 23 legislators tested positive for coronavirus. The maximum among the MLAs found infected with COVID-19 are from the Congress, followed by the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Covishield vaccine update: 3 of 5 Volunteers Chosen for Trial in Pune Found With Antibodies.

Those legislators who came in contact with the positive tested MLAs will need to remain in isolation for at least five days. This would lead to massive absenteeism on the first day of Assembly session, on August 28, as all MLAs of Akali Dal and most legislators of AAP were present at their respective legislative party meetings called on Tuesday.

Out of the 23 MLAs found positive, 14 belong to the Congress, 6 to the Akali Dal and 3 to the AAP, reported The Tribune. The numbers form nearly one-fifth of the total assembly of 117 legislators.

The Congress legislators who have tested positive are as follows: Gurpreet Kangar, Sukhjinder Randhawa, Madan Lal Jalalpur, Ajaib Singh Bhatti, Sham Sunder Arora, Hardial Kamboj, Dr Dharamvir Aghnihotri, Amit Vij, Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal, Pargat Singh,Harjot Kamal, Amrik Singh Dhillon, Sanjeev Talwar and Nazar Singh Manshahia.

Gurpartap Singh Wadala, Lakhbir Singh Lodhinangal, Harinderpal Singh Chandumajra, Manpreet Singh Ayali, NK Sharma and Rozy Barkandi are the six MLAs of Akali Dal who were reportedly found positive. From the AAP, Manjit Singh Bilaspur and Kulwant Singh Pandori were reported as COVID-19 positive.

The number of MLAs who are tested positive are feared to rise further as the test report of the some of the legislators is awaited. The Assembly Speaker said the final tally would be released on Thursday.

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, who confirmed that 23 MLAs were found infected, said their test reports is a grim reflection of the COVID-19 situation. He said one should understand what the situation on the ground is if the legislators are diagnosed with the lethal disease.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 26, 2020 06:43 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).