Six more Delhi Police personnel test positive for Covid-19, five of them in Chandni Mahal

Six more Delhi Police personnel, five of them from the Chandni Mahal police station, tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) Monday, taking the total

Six more Delhi Police personnel, five of them from the Chandni Mahal police station, tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) Monday, taking the total number of police personnel infected with the virus to 16, so far.

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The sixth policeman is posted with the anti-terrorism wing of the special cell. The head constable was put in home quarantine on April 10, after he informed senior officers about being symptomatic for Covid-19.

This is the highest single-day rise of Covid-19 cases among the city police force. Of the 16 personnel infected with the disease, one assistant sub-inspector with the traffic police was discharged from the hospital on Friday after his test reports came negative for the infection.

Monday, five police personnel of the Chandni Mahal police were admitted to two separate hospitals after their screening results confirmed that they had Covid-19. With this, a total of eight personnel of the police station have tested positive for Covid-19.

The Chandni Mahal neighbourhood in central Delhi was declared a containment zone after 13 Covid-19 cases and six deaths were reported from the area. A majority of them had links to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin area in mid-March.

After that, the police station was sealed and all other personnel were sent to home quarantine. Two days ago, another constable tested positive.

“Of the 76, five have been found infected with the disease. The test results of SHO and 70 other police personnel of the police station are negative. In total, eight personnel have been found infected with the virus,” Bhatia said, adding that four of the eight have been admitted to a private hospital while the other four are in a government hospital.

On Saturday, a constable and 26 other civilians, of the 45 people from west Delhi’s Tilak Vihar who volunteered for random community testing at a DDU dispensary on Friday, tested positive for Covid-19.

The constable was posted at the Tilak Vihar police station was asymptomatic for the disease. A multi-tasking staff (MTS) of the police post was also among the 45 tested, but his report confirmed he was not infected.

By Sunday evening, the Delhi government added Tilak Vihar in Tilak Nagar to the list of containment zones.

The traffic police ASI, who has now recovered, was the first to be found positive in the force. 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. One policeman staying in Model Town police colony was tested positive after he came in contact with his wife, a health staff at a government hospital. The couple’s son was also found infected after the screening.

Two deputy commissioners of police (DCPs) of the south-west district and as many as 300 police personnel, who had come in contact with the infected personnel during duty, are in home quarantine currently.