Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister (Dy CM) Ashwath Narayan on Saturday (19 September) said he had tested coronavirus positive and was now in home isolation in the city.

“Ahead of the Monsoon Session of the Assembly from Monday, I underwent a Covid-19 test on Saturday, and its result has turned positive. I am asymptomatic but will be in home isolation,” tweeted Narayan.

“I request all those who have come in contact with me to take precautions,” Narayan added.

Narayan, 51, is one of the 3 Deputy CMs in the BJP government and represents Malleshwaram segment in the city’s northwest suburb in the Assembly.

Earlier on Wednesday, state Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai also tested positive for Covid-19 and went into home isolation.

In a tweet in Kannada, Bommai said the infection was confirmed in the Covid test conducted yesterday (Tuesday) for a working boy in his house. "In this backdrop, I have also been tested and I have been infected. I am isolated at home though no symptoms and am healthy," said Bommai in Kannada.

Narayan is the latest among the state ministers to be infected by the coronavirus though all of them have been asymptomatic and most of them have recovered.

Ahead of the monsoon session of the state legislature from 21 September, Urban Development Minister Byrathi Basavaraj also tested Covid positive on 15 September and was admitted to a private hospital in the city.

State Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chauhan also tested positive for the corona virus on 9 September at Bidar in the state's northern region.

Early this month, state Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar tested positive on 5 September and has been in home quarantine for treatment at Yellapur in Uttara Kannada district in the state's northwest coastal region.

Besides state Chief Minister B S Yeddiyurappa, half-a-dozen ministers, including B R Sriramulu (Health), C T Ravi (Tourism), Shashikala Jolle (Women and Child Development), K S Eshwarappa (Rural Development), Anand Singh (Forests & Environment) and S T Somashekar (Cooperation) tested for the virus and were discharged after they recovered over the last one month.

Opposition Congress leader Siddaramaiah, his party's state unit president D K Shivakumar and scores of lawmakers of the BJP, Congress and Janata Dal-Secular were affected by the virus and recovered after treatment since July.

(With inputs from IANS)