Eighty-four staff members attached to the Raj Bhavan, Tamil Nadu, which is the official residence of state Governor Banwarilal Purohit, have confirmed to have contracted to the COVID-19 viral infection, pouring a grim development in the state's fight against the global pandemic. 

Following the revelation, the premises of the Raj Bhavan have been sanitized and disinfected. According to the press release issued by the government on Thursday, the staff members and people attached to the Governor's residence had gone through the COVID-19 testing after some of them had shown the symptoms for the virus. 

84 people incl security personnel and fire service staff have tested positive for COVID 19. All 84 people quarantined by the Health Dept. They were not working in the Main Building and none of them came in contact with the Tamil Nadu Governor: Raj Bhawan, Chennai

— ANI (@ANI) July 23, 2020

About 147 people were tested to detect the viral infection of which 84 staff members of the Raj Bhavan, including fire safety staff and security persons, tested positive for the virus. The press release further stated that all the positive cases have been taken under quarantine by the Health Department. 

The press release asserted that none of the positive cases have come in direct contact with the Governor and other senior officials as these staff members were working at the main gate and other areas, and not in the main building, where the Governor resides. 

The COVID-19 virus spread had earlier seen the grounds of spread in the Raj Bhavans of other states. Earlier, the Raj Bhavans in Telangana and Maharashtra had reported positive cases inside its respective premises following which both the state governments had implemented measures to mitigate the spread surfaced around the Governors.

In line with that, Tamil Nadu's Raj Bhavan has reported 84 fresh cases in a single day, becoming a hotspot for the virus spread. Tamil Nadu has been witnessing the spread among the important people of the government. So far, 18 MLAs, including four sitting ministers, have been tested positive for the virus as the rapid spread threatens the people and the political leaders amid the containment measures.

As of Wednesday, Tamil Nadu has reported 1,86,492 cases so far of which 51,765 are active, 1,31,583 have been recovered, and 3,144 had succumbed to the virus. 

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