Ayush Minister Shripad Naik tests positive for Coronavirus

In a tweet posted Wednesday evening, Naik said he was asymptomatic and that his vitals were "within normal limits."

Naik, who heads the Ayush (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) Ministry, is currently in home isolation.

He also requested all who came in contact with him over the past few days to get themselves tested.

"I underwent COVID-19 test today and it has turned out asymptomatically positive. My vitals are within normal limits and I have opted for home isolation. Those who have come in contact with me in the last few days are advised to get tested and take required precautions," he wrote.

Naik is the fifth union minister to have tested COVID-19 positive. Earlier this month Home Minister Amit Shah had also tested positive.

Recently the Ayush Ministry stopped Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev's Patanjali from advertising their medicines as cure to coronavirus.

Naik's ministry had asked for data from clinical trials of  'Coronil and Swasari' that Ramdev claimed were "100 per cent" successful in treating the contagion.

Later the Ministry approved the sale of the medicines after they were rebranded as COVID management kit and not as cure for the virus.