Cases in Maha Police drop to 2,934 in May

MUMBAI: After seeing the second highest Covid-19 cases in April during the second wave, the Maharashtra Police department is witnessing a declining trend in the number of infections among police personnel.

In April, the department recorded more than 6,000 new cases of infection among police personnel, which dropped to 2,934 cases in May.

However, the department recorded the fourth highest fatalities – 47 – in May. The highest deaths were recorded in September (87), followed by 68 this April and 55 last August.

According to the state police, a total of 469 police personnel – 41 officers and 428 from the constabulary – have lost their lives to the deadly virus since its outbreak in the country in March 2020. Mumbai Police have witnessed the highest fatalities (119), followed by Thane (35), Nagpur (23), Pune (18), Ahmednagar (14), Gadchiroli (13), Navi Mumbai (12) and Nashik Rural (12).

Mumbai Police spokesperson deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Chaitanya Siriprolu said 8,886 police personnel have tested positive for Covid-19 in the city, so far. Of these, 119 succumbed to the infectious disease, while 176 are active patients who are undergoing treatment at various facilities.

The police also said that the average daily cases have come down substantially, unlike in April, when the number of infections were crossing the 150-mark every day. In the past 24 hours, only 32 cases were reported in the state police, including a death each in Mumbai and Pune Railway Police.

As per the director general’s (DG) office, 43,882 police personnel across the state have been infected with the virus, of which 42,087 have recovered. There are 1,326 active cases in the state police force, while nearly 9,972 are quarantined.

A senior police officers attributed the peak in April during the second wave to the overall spread of the infection and the police’s exposure to the public. There are a significant number of personnel who contracted the virus while they were on leave, an officer said. Another senior officer said, “Every month, on an average, 50 police personnel died of various illnesses and diseases,” the officer said.

Of the 154,039 state police personnel (excluding 45,000 of Mumbai Police), 104,799 have been given both the jabs. Mumbai Police vaccinated 28,884 (68.90%) with both the doses.