Police station declared ‘out of bounds’ after cops test +ve in Kathua

JAMMU: A police station in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir was declared ‘out of bounds’ on Saturday after three policemen posted there tested positive for coronavirus, officials said. Kathua senior superintendent of police Shailendra Mishra said the police station was closed for visitors and would remain ‘out of bounds’ till the time all the personnel deployed there tested negative for the virus.

“A few days ago, a cop from IR battalion was tested positive and today another policeman from Kathua police station was tested positive. Their contact history is being traced,” he said.

“The women police station in Kathua will take complaints till then,” he said after declaring the first positive case in the police station this morning. “The policeman, who tested positive, is asymptomatic,” the official added.

District development commissioner O P Bhagat said a total of three policemen tested positive for coronavirus at the police station, taking the number of patients in the district to 68. Sixtytwo of the patients had travel history outside the Union territory, he said, adding that 19 of the patients have been cured and discharged from hospitals.

In a related development, a police spokesperson said samples were collected by the health department from various police stations in Jammu for COVID-19 testing.

Nodal Officer Shahid Hussain deputed mobile testing van to various police stations for collection of random samples of police personnel, he said. He said the health officials collected 20 samples during their visit to the police stations. Meanwhile, 14 new COVID-19 positive cases were detected in Ramban district of Jammu region on Saturday, taking the total number of cases in the district to 89.