36 more BSF personnel test positive for Covid-19, force’s count climbs to 1,348

The force now has 1,348 coronavirus cases and out of these 526 personnel are under treatment.

Thirty six more Border Security Force (BSF) personnel tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 24 hours and 33 others have recovered from the viral infection, a statement from the BSF said on Sunday.

So far, 817 Border Security Force personnel have been cured and discharged from medical camps. (PTI PHOTO.)

At least 526 security personnel are currently suffering from the infectious disease in the border guarding force. The force now has 1,348 coronavirus cases and out of these 526 personnel are under treatment.

So far, 817 BSF personnel have been cured and discharged from medical camps.

On Saturday, 79 personnel of the two border security forces-- the BSF and the Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) -- tested positive for coronavirus.

The about 2.5-lakh personnel strong Border Security Force (BSF) reported 45 fresh Covid-19 cases and 39 recoveries a day earlier, officials said.

There have been five deaths so far from the disease in the force, given the task of guarding India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. The fatalities include a BSF soldier who was killed in a road accident and his Covid-19 positive report came later.

The 90,000 personnel strong mountain-warfare trained force — the ITBP has recorded two deaths due to the coronavirus disease.

The maximum numbers of new Covid-19 cases in the two forces are of those security personnel who are joining their units and are under mandatory quarantine of 14 days before they resume active duty, a senior official said.

India’s count of the coronavirus disease touched 673,165 with the highest single-day spike of 24,850 new cases and 613 deaths, data from the Union health ministry indicated on Sunday.

The country’s death toll due to the disease has climbed to 19,268 and there are 244,481 active cases of Covid-19 in the country, according to the health ministry’s data.