‘ALL 20 COVID +VE CRPF-RAF JAWANS CAME FROM RED ZONES’

JAMSHEDPUR : Twenty jawans of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Rapid Action Force (RAF) testing Covid-19 positive here in Sundernagar late on Thursday night had returned to the group centre from red zones across the country, officials said on Friday.

The 20 jawans were among the 45 security personnel testing positive in Jamshedpur.

This resulted in the highest ever single day surge in Jamshedpur

“Fifteen jawans of RAF and five jawans from CRPF tested positive in Jamshedpur on late Thursday night and all of them had come back after vacation from red zones and were under 14-day quarantine at a secluded centre at the CRPF Group Centre in Sundernagar, on the outskirts of the city,” officials said.

“Our five jawans had come back from Bengaluru, Dehradun, Kanpur, Rai Bareily and Dharampur, all in red zones. We have been strictly following the MHA, GoI guidelines and Covid-19 protocol for quarantine centres as well as for our camps at different locations. A total of 30 CRPF jawans had come from red zones between June 19 and 29, of which only five tested positive, while the remaining tested negative Thursday night,” Ashu Shukla, CRPF DIG in-charge of the group centre, said.

Meanwhile RAF commandant PK Singh said 15 of the 36 jawans coming from red zones tested positive, with the remaining 21 negative.

“They all returned to the group centre between June 20 and 28 and their samples were sent for testing on June 29. In the first half of June, around 25 jawans returned from vacations but all had tested negative,” said Singh.

The 15 RAF jawans had returned from Buxar, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Burdwan, Patna, Ranchi, Ganjam, Bongaigaon and other red zones.

Jamshedpur district IDSP nodal officer Dr Asad said two persons, including a woman, at a paid quarantine in a Bistupurbased hotel, and another person from Kadma staying at a paid quarantine in Sonari, tested positive Thursday night with a travel history of Hazaribag and Delhi.

A couple in Shivsthali Apartment containment zone also tested positive, where another couple had tested positive a couple of days ago.

“The district tally has gone up to 449 patients, of which 272 have cured and discharged, leaving only 177 active cases. This has helped us achieve a recovery rate of 60.57%,” said Dr Asad.