255 cops test Covid positive in 5 days

LUCKNOW : The Sars-Cov-2 infection is spreading fast among police personnel, exposed to the virus while performing duties on streets and crowded places, senior police officials said here on Thursday.

A senior police official of director general of police headquarters in Lucknow said that as many as 147 police officials and personnel have tested positive in the past two days, while one subinspector succumbed to it. He said this figure stands around 255 positive cases in five days between April 10 and 14.

Sharing details, the official said that the total number of active cases in the police department was merely 105 on April 10 but it increased to over three times in just five days. He said as many as 351 police personnel are undergoing treatment currently.

The official said that DGP Hitesh Chandra Awasthy has issued fresh directives to all district police chiefs, police commissioners as well as the heads of other police units and wings to ensure that police personnel adopt Covid-19 appropriate behaviour to keep themselves as well as others safe from getting infected while on duty.

He said that police personnel on duty during panchayat polls have been provided masks and sanitisers to keep themselves protected from the infection. He said they have been asked to maintain social distancing and ensure enforcement of pandemic protocols at polling booths as well. He said the total case count has crossed 13,000 since April 26, 2020. The official said as 107 police personnel in different districts tested positive in past two days.