Congress MLA from Mahagama Deepika Pandey Singh who returned to Ranchi from the US on Friday, decided to stay under quarantine at RIMS in line with the safety protocol to fight the novel coronavirus.

Singh had been in the US to attend the fortnight-long International Visitor Leadership Programme for current and emerging leaders.

Singh, who made her electoral debut successfully in the Assembly polls held last December, is the first politician from Jharkhand to attend the leadership programme.

Singh, who left for the US on February 28, was among the five women representatives from India invited by the US department of education to deliver lectures at the event.

She said she was eager to meet her daughters and other family members besides people of her constituency to share her experience, but “duty comes first”.

“That’s why after returning from the US, I decided to go into quarantine as this is the standard health protocol followed across the world. I am absolutely fit but I can’t take risks. I am a public representative and I should follow protocol,” she said, adding there was no need to worry as long as everyone followed safety protocols and took precautions such as hand-washing.

She said that the state government had made elaborate arrangements to fight the coronavirus in Jharkhand.

At RIMS, Singh was examined by a team of doctors and her samples were taken.

Her husband Ratnesh Singh, a senior official with Tata Steel, was appreciative. “My wife is very sensible, caring and serious about public issues. She did what a public representative should do.”

The Jharkhand Assembly secretariat on Friday started screening visitors with infrared thermometers as a precaution against the novel coronavirus.