Indian defence secretary tests positive for coronavirus

Indian defence secretary Ajay Kumar has become the first top bureaucrat of his country to test positive for the novel coronavirus, reported Indian media on Thursday.

A source told the Times of India, that close to 30 people who had come into contact with Kumar have been asked to go into self-quarantine.

The publication further said Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh did not attend his office on Wednesday and is not in self-quarantine.

Meanwhile, officials have told the Hindustan Times that contact tracing was being carried out to identify those who had been in touch with Kumar. They added that the Indian chief of defence staff and the three services chief had not met Kumar in the last four days.

The publication also confirmed that Kumar is the first top Indian government official who has been tested positive for the virus. 

The news of Kumar's test results comes at a time when Indian media has reported that India's has recorded over 200,000 positive coronavirus cases. 

Meanwhile, more than 6.5 million people have been reported infected with the novel coronavirus globally and over 384,000 have died, according to a Reuters tally.