Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge has tested positive for COVID-19, his office confirmed on Thursday. 

The senior Congress leader is asymptomatic and fully vaccinated.

“He is asymptomatic and under home isolation. He is fully vaccinated but was not yet eligible for his precaution dose which required a nine-month gap from the date of the second dose of the vaccination,” his office said in a statement, reported news agency ANI.

Ravindra Garimella, secretary to Kharge, wrote, “Leader of the opposition in the RS, .. has tested positive for COVID-19 in a routine RT-PCR test on 12th January 2022.”

Also Read | Over 400 parliament staff members test COVID positive: Report

The statement explained that five staff members in Kharge’s Delhi office had tested positive a few days back. They are all fine and are recovering well under home isolation. 

“Kharge would like to use this opportunity to encourage all eligible people to get vaccinated and especially, senior citizens to take the precautionary dose on a priority as soon as they are eligible. He would also like to urge the government to look at expanding the population who are eligible to receive the booster dose and reducing the time gap between the second dose and the precautionary dose,” the statement read.

Also Read | How COVID has impacted the 2022 Assembly elections

Those who came in contact with the politician have been advised to observe their symptoms and get tested. 

Notably, several leaders and ministers have tested positive for the infection in the last few days, including BJP National President JP Nadda, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, among others. 

Meanwhile, India on Thursday reported 2,47,417 new COVID-19 infections, the highest in 236 days, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,63,17,927 which includes 5,488 cases of the omicron variant, according to the Union Health Ministry.

The country saw a single day jump of 620 cases of the omicron variant, the highest so far, taking the total tally of such cases to 5,488, out of which 2,162 people have recovered or migrated so far.