Over 6,300 cops test Covid-19 positive, 63 die in a month

THE OFFICIALS SAID THE TOTAL ACTIVE CASES IN THE POLICE FORCE IN THE STATE HAD SWELLED TO 4316 WITH 1804 FRESH CASES REPORTED IN THE FIRST EIGHT DAYS OF MAY.

LUCKNOW: Over 6,300 police personnel tested positive for Covid-19 and 63 died after getting infected with the virus in the past one month since the second wave of the pandemic hit the state, said senior police officials here on Saturday.

The officials said the total active cases in the police force in the state had swelled to 4316 with 1804 fresh cases reported in the first eight days of May.

“As many as 122 police personnel have died while performing their duties on field postings in different districts across the state since the outbreak of the Covid-19 infection in the state in April 2020. Besides, 10 personnel of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC), four personnel of state police headquarters, three police personnel each posted in Government Railway Police (GRP) and other police units, two home guards and one personnel of police training centre have died during the same period,” a senior police official stated.

He said the maximum number of deaths —63 — were reported since April 10, 2021.

He said these deaths in the past one month accounted for over 43% of the fatalities reported among police personnel since the pandemic began early last year.

“The list of deceased cops includes as many as 53 on field duties in different districts, five personnel of PAC, three personnel of police headquarters and two cops of GRP,” he added.

He said among the 6324 police personnel infected between April 10 and May 8, 2021, as many as 2113 had recovered and 4211 were still under treatment. He said the active Covid-19 cases in the police force in the state were merely 105 on April 10 and had increased by 40 times since then.

The official said a total of 19,045 police personnel tested positive between April 24, 2020 and May 8, 2021.

Giving a break-up of the data, he said 15,082 police personnel on field duties across the state tested positive, followed by 1171 personnel of PAC, 936 cops posted in different police units, 854 personnel of police training centres, 433 cops of GRP, 345 home guards and 224 personnel posted at the police headquarters.