Ahead of President Ram Nath Kovind's visit to Himachal Pradesh, three out of the 56 staff members of the summer presidential house in Shimla, 'The Retreat', tested positive for COVID-19, informed state government sources on Monday.
Fifty-six samples for the RT-PCR test were taken on Friday and three tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, they said.
Even though the remaining 53 staffers tested COVID-19 negative, they have been quarantined as a precautionary measure. Their samples will again be collected on September 15.
President Ram Nath Kovind was scheduled for a five-day visit to Shimla starting September 16 but now his visit has been cut short to four days.
The President will now stay in the Oberoi Cecil hotel instead of Rashtrapati Bhawan 'The Retreat' in Shimla.
He will arrive in Shimla on September 16 and will address a special session of the state assembly on September 17 followed by a visit to the Indian Audit and Accounts Academy, Yarrows in Shimla.
The state government has decided to conduct RT-PCR tests for COVID-19 of the other staff members of Himachal Pradesh Police, employees of Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation and also the staff of the state assembly. The samples for the same will also be collected tomorrow i.e Tuesday from the staff of the hotel where the President is scheduled to stay during his visit to Shimla.
( With inputs from ANI )
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