COVID-19: 135 CRPF Troops In Delhi Test Coronavirus Positive; More Results Awaited

NEW DELHI: The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) headquarter in Delhi was sealed on Sunday after a staff associated with a senior official tested positive for the novel coronavirus. CRPF Additional Director General Jawed Akhtar’s stenographer tested positive for Covid-19 early Sunday.

With that, the number of COVID-positive personnel in a Delhi-based battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the country’s largest paramilitary force, has risen to 135. As many as 480 personnel were tested from the 31st Battalion for COVID-19. Of the 458 test reports out so far, 135 tested positive and 323 negative from the Battalion.

ALL of the affected men belong to the 31st battalion of the paramilitary, based in Mayur Vihar Phase-III area of the national capital, that has been entirely sealed after the huge numbers of the COVID-19 infection started building up over the last few days. The 31st Battalion is one of the largest contingents of CRPF.

Personnel of this unit were deployed for rendering law and order duties along with Delhi Police in the recent past.

The force is investigating all these angles apart from an instance where it was claimed that the nursing attendant was not kept under strict quarantine in the battalion camp, leading to the spread of the infection.

Jawed Akhtar and 10 other personnel have been home-quarantined, even as authorities began contact-tracing of all the personnel who came in contact with the staffer at the headquarter building.

Earlier, CRPF DG AP Maheshwari had spent 21 days in self-quarantine after coming in indirect contact with a patient. He had later tested negative.

A mobile coronavirus testing lab has been stationed on the premises of the battalion to ensure quick collection of samples.

A special sanitisation drive is being conducted on the campus and in its vicinity, the officials said.

The brighter side is that the maximum of these infected troopers are asymptomatic and it is expected that they will be cured soon, the senior official said.

The personnel are admitted to an isolation facility of the Delhi government at Mandoli.

Twelve troopers had tested positive on Friday and a 55-year-old Sub-Inspector of this unit had succumbed to the disease early this week.

 

from League of India