India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah at the Parliament House on March 3. Photo: Prakash Singh/AFP via Getty Images
India's Home Minister Amit Shah was admitted to the hospital on Sunday after testing positive for the coronavirus, he said in a tweet.
Why it matters: Shah "is widely viewed as the second most powerful person in India" behind Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Wall Street Journal reports.
- What he's saying: "My health is fine, but I am being admitted to the hospital on the advice of doctors. I request that all of you who have come in contact with me in the last few days, please isolate yourself and get your inquiry done," Shah tweeted.
The big picture: India is reporting the third-most coronavirus infections in the world, behind Brazil and the U.S., per Johns Hopkins — although experts have expressed doubt at official records from China and Russia.
- The country is reporting more than 1.7 million infections, primarily in Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, and over 37,000 deaths. Over 1.1 million people in the country have recovered.
Go deeper: India reports third-highest coronavirus case count in the world