Twenty-five MPs are said to have tested Covid-19 positive during the mandatory testing before the monsoon session, which began on Monday with the observance of strict social-distancing norms.

Seventeen of the infected members are from the Lok Sabha and eight from the Rajya Sabha. There was, however, no official word on the ground that revealing names would be a breach of privacy.

Several MPs such as the BJP’s Meenakshi Lekhi, Parvesh Saheb Singh and Sukanta Majumdar and the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party’s Hanuman Beniwal took to Twitter to announce they had tested positive and caution those who had come in contact with them.

“After the routine Parliament test for Covid & genome test it’s confirmed that I have tested positive for the virus. I am currently in good health & spirits. I request everyone who has been recently in contact with me to get tested. Together We will fight & defeat Corona,” Lekhi tweeted on Monday afternoon.

Nagaur MP Beniwal said he had come positive in the test conducted on Friday at Parliament House, and negative in another test at the Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur on Sunday.

“Which report is to be considered correct?” he asked in Hindi, tweeting both reports. Both were RT-PCR tests.

Majumdar tweeted: “I have tested #Covid19 positive today. I am doing well & taking doctors advice. Requesting all those who have come in close contact with me in the last few days to monitor their health and get tested in case of any symptoms.”

Parliament sources said that some 56 people had tested positive after undergoing Covid testing at the facilities set up on the premises in preparation for the session. They included staff members and journalists.

Elaborate arrangements have been made for the session. The two Houses met for four hours each on Monday, with the members spread across the two chambers to maintain social distancing.

In the Lok Sabha, where the benches are more closely placed than the Rajya Sabha, shields have been placed along all the rows.

All the members wore masks, and sometimes the presiding officers had difficulty recognising them, especially since they were not sitting in their regular places.

To restrict the points of contact, a mobile app has been developed for the members to mark their attendance.

Only packed meals were served. People were discouraged from milling around, and entry into the Parliament complex was even more restricted than usual.

Visitors are not being allowed this session to watch the proceedings from the viewing galleries in either chamber.

Even the customary greeting of the presiding officer by the new members after they have taken their oath has been dispensed with.

The Rajya Sabha had several new members, but they just came up to the reporters’ table to take the oath and returned straightaway without going up to the Chairman to greet him.