Four constables of Nabi Karim police station Covid-19 positive, 20 cops infected so far

Four constables of the Delhi Police posted at central Delhi’s Nabi Karim tested positive for coronavirus (Covid-19) after 80 personnel of the police station were

Four constables of the Delhi Police posted at central Delhi’s Nabi Karim tested positive for coronavirus (Covid-19) after 80 personnel of the police station were screened till Monday. All four were asymptomatic and their testing was done after Nabi Karim was declared a containment zone.

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With the four new cases, the total number of police personnel infected with the virus rose to 20. Of these, 12 personnel are from Nabi Karim and Chandni Mahal police stations in central Delhi. Eight personnel at the Chandni Mahal police station had earlier tested positive for the virus. The station was sealed last week, as the building was in a containment zone and two constables had tested positive for Covid-19.

“The Nabi Karim police station has not been sealed yet as everyone else, besides the four, tested negative. So far, screening of more than 150 personnel of the two police stations has been done. Of them, 12 have been found positive and they all were asymptomatic,” said Sanjay Bhatia, deputy commissioner of police (central).

Of the four personnel, three were on picket duty while one was deployed on the station premises. “We are trying to ascertain the source through which these police personnel got the infection. The entire police station building was disinfected and sanitised,” the DCP said.

On Monday, six personnel — five from the Chandni Mahal police station and one head constable posted with the anti-terrorism wing of the special cell — were found positive for the virus. It was the highest single-day rise of Covid-19 cases among the police.

Of the 20 personnel infected with the disease, an assistant sub-inspector with the traffic police, who was the first to be diagnosed, was discharged from the hospital last Friday.

The other personnel infected with the virus were posted at AIIMS Trauma Centre police post, at the Delhi airport, at a police picket in Bara Hindu Rao, and in Burari. A policeman staying in Model Town police colony tested positive after his wife, nursing staff at a government hospital, was found infected. Their son had also tested positive for the virus.

Two deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) of the South West district and as many as 300 personnel of other ranks, who had come in contact with the infected personnel during duty, are in home-quarantine at present. The DCPs tested negative for the virus and are likely to resume their duties from Thursday.