Chandigarh, August 24:  Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar tested positive for coronavirus on Monday. Khattar took to Twitter to announce that he has been tested positive for COVID-19. He urged his associates who came in contact with him to get themselves tested for the disease. "I was tested for Novel Corona Virus today. My test report has returned positive. I appeal to all colleagues and associates who came in my contact over the last week to get themselves tested. I request my close contacts to move into strict quarantine immediately", Khattar tweeted.

Earlier in the day, Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta tested positive for COVID-19, state health Minister Anil Vij confirmed. Apart from Gupta, two other MLAs have also been tested positive for coronavirus. "The Assembly Speaker and two other MLAs have tested positive for coronavirus," Vij was quoted by PTI.

Here's the tweet:

Gupta has tested positive two days before the monsoon session of the Haryana Assembly starts on August 26. According to reports, coronavirus test has been made mandatory for all MLAs of the Haryana Assembly, including the Speaker, Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and ministers. Only those who turn out negative will be allowed to attend the session.

In Haryana, the total coronavirus cases rose to 54,386 with a spike of 1,096 coronavirus cases till Sunday. During the past a few days, the state has reported a sharp spike in cases. The death toll in the state mounted to 603 with the fatality rate of 1.11 percent.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 24, 2020 07:20 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).