‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh tests positive for COVID-19
The Indian athletics legend tested positive after one of his house helps contracted the virus earlier this week.
Indian track and field great Milkha Singh has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, his family informed on Thursday.
The ‘Flying Sikh’ is currently under home isolation in Chandigarh and is being monitored by the medical staff of a local hospital.
The 1960 Rome Olympian tested positive for COVID-19 after one of his house helps returned a positive test earlier this week. Though Milkha Singh showed no signs of infection earlier, the family underwent a precautionary test on Wednesday.
While the 91-year-old tested positive for the infection, his family members including wife Nirmal Kaur, daughter-in-law Kudrat and grandson Harjai Milkha Singh have tested negative for the virus.
“One of our cooks had a fever earlier this week and when he told us, all of us decided to get tested on Wednesday,” Nirmal Kaur told Indian Express, adding that Milkha is asymptomatic and that his fever has now subsided. An Oxygen concentrator has also been arranged, should it be needed.
The former Commonwealth Games champion, Milkha Singh, has been indoors for the past few months while his son and professional golfer Jeev Milkha Singh is in Dubai on tour and is expected to return later this week.
Milkha Singh was invited for the inauguration of a COVID-19 Care Mini Centre in Chandigarh on Thursday, but the plan has now been shelved.
“He had been following all the precautions including a double mask,” Nirmal Kaur, the former Indian volleyball team captain, said.
Meanwhile, Indian table tennis player and two-time Olympian Mouma Das has also tested positive for COVID-19 in Kolkata.
The 37-year-old is the fourth person in her family to return a positive test after her mother-in-law, aunt and daughter were diagnosed with the infection a few weeks back.