Nagaland Chief Minister, Dy CM, 4 ministers under quarantine on return from Delhi

Our Reporter/Our Correspondent
Dimapur/Kohima, July 16 (EMN): Nagaland’s top political leaders, including the chief minister and the deputy chief minister, went into quarantine — some self-quarantine and the others, institutional — on their return to the state from New Delhi.

The chief minister, along with minister for Planning, Co-ordination, Land Revenue, Parliamentary Affairs, Neiba Kronu; and minister for Agriculture, G Kaito Aye, will undergo 14 days self/home quarantine following return from Delhi on Thursday.

In a tweet, the chief minister said that the move to undergo self-quarantine was a precautionary measure after he had travelled to national capital to meet with some central leaders. Kronu and Aye had accompanied the chief minister on the trip.

Rio stated that he will continue to discharge his duties; and appealed to the citizens to follow official advisories/guidelines such as wearing masks, maintaining social distancing and observing hygiene.

Kronu said that they had flown (chartered flight) to Delhi on July 12 and stayed at the chief minister’s residence in Delhi.

He clarified that the three of them did not meet with Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton and four other BJP legislators of the state who were also in Delhi, as their purpose of visit was different.

Following reports that a driver at Nagaland House, Delhi, who chauffeured BJP legislators Kashiho Sangtam and Dr. Longrineken, had tested positive for Covid-19, they decided not to meet each other, Kronu said.

Kronu also said that they returned to the state on Thursday after meeting Union Home Minister Amit Shah and national BJP president JP Nadda ‘on the first day’, and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh the following day.

Upon reaching Dimapur on Thursday, all three of them decided to undergo home quarantine for 14 days as necessitated by the standard operating procedures, he said.

During the period of quarantine, Kronu said they would not entertain any public interviews.

Meanwhile, the DIPR reported that Patton; minister for Health and Family Welfare, S Pangnyu Phom; and minister for PHED, Jacob Zhimomi will undergo institutional quarantine in Dimapur after they arrived from New Delhi on Thursday.

After thermal screening at the airport, the ministers were transported in an ambulance to the quarantine facility.

According to the report, their initial tests in Dimapur as well as the TrueNat results in Delhi have returned negative. The three ministers will be tested again “within a few days’ time”.