Former Indian PM Manmohan Singh hospitalised with coronavirus

Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has tested positive for Covid-19 and been admitted to the Trauma Centre of Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

The veteran Congress leader, who was administered a Covid test after registering a fever, was admitted to hospital on Monday afternoon, reports the NDTV citing the ANI.

Dr Singh, who on Saturday participated in a meeting with top Congress leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, on the coronavirus situation in the country, wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, to offer some advice on handling a pandemic that has killed nearly 1.8 lakh people in India alone.

He urged Prime Minister Modi to allow states to define categories of frontline workers that need to be vaccinated against Covid on priority "even if they are below 45 years of age".

Asking the centre to place "enough" vaccine orders in advance, Singh, in a letter, said the distribution of jabs among states should be based on a "transparent formula".