1,500 Delhi Police personnel test positive in Covid-19 second wave

The Delhi Police has intensified patrolling across the city due to the stringent curbs announced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in view of spiralling Covid-19 cases.

The Delhi Police on Thursday said that around 1,500 of its personnel have tested positive in the fresh wave of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) that is wreaking havoc in the national capital, news agency ANI reported. The police force has been involved in frontline duty during the pandemic, which increases the risk of contracting the virus.

Delhi Police personnel check lockdown passes for commuters at Dundahera-Kapashera border after AAP government announced complete lockdown for 6 days due to surge in Covid-19 cases, in Gurugram. (PTI Photo)

The number has grown five times since last week, when ANI reported that 300 police personnel tested positive for Covid-19.

The Delhi Police has intensified patrolling across the city due to the stringent curbs announced by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in view of spiralling Covid-19 cases. The national capital recorded 24,638 new Covid-19 cases and 249 related deaths on Wednesday.

The police have also been handling a multitude of requests from people across the city. Since the surge in cases, police have arranged oxygen for hospitals facing critical shortage, sent the antiviral drug Remdesivir to patients in other states, turned a public park into a hospital for an ailing woman and rushed an elderly patient to hospital in the absence of any relative, among others.

“People believe that the police can help them in times of need. We are working hard to do whatever we can to save lives and ease the troubles of patients,” Anto Alphonse, deputy commissioner of police (north Delhi), told Hindustan Times.

According to Delhi Police, SHO Mukherjee Nagar along with his staff arranged three oxygen cylinders in the night from Mayapuri plant and delivered them to a family of three Covid-19 patients.

Police said they received a call from a woman who informed them about their condition. The SHO managed to arrange cylinders from Mayapuri and delivered to the house of the patients on Wednesday around 11.45 pm.

On the same night, a major crisis was averted after the Delhi Police managed to restore oxygen supply to a hospital which sent an SOS to them for over 350 Covid-19 patients who were undergoing treatment.

The police are also catering to a lot of requests for plasma. Almost 90 per cent of the policemen in Delhi have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

(With inputs from agencies)