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45 ITBP men test positive for Covid-19, total cases in CAPFs now 298
A majority of the infections among paramilitary forces is in Delhi.
The Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) suspects that a retired officer who died of Covid-19 on Sunday infected many other men as the number of infections rose to 45 on Tuesday and forced it to seal the Tigri camp in Delhi, an official said.
The camp houses 22nd battalion of the ITBP, which has strength of around 1,000 personnel who all are under observation while 76 of them are in quarantine.
The decision to seal the Tigri camp came after 23 more men tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday.
“We are trying to identify the source of infection in the force but preliminary assessment is that a retired ITBP officer, who was staying at Tigri camp and died due to Covid-19 on Sunday at Safdarjung hospital could be the carrier. The retired officer had contracted Covid-19 infection sometime in mid-April but there were other comorbidity factors due to which he died,” said an officer, who did not wish to be named.
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Subsequently, ITBP suspects that some of the personnel may have contracted the infection during law and order duties in different parts of Delhi along with the Delhi Police.
Out of these, 43 personnel were those deployed for internal security duties in the national capital while two were deployed for law and order duty with the Delhi Police, the ITBP said in a statement.
ITBP reported its first Covid-19 case April 28. On Monday, the number reached 21 before it more than doubled to 45 on Tuesday. Forty three of these are from Tigri camp while two are stationed at Rohini for law and order duties.
The central paramilitary forces, also called Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), have reported a total of 311 from across the country till Tuesday out of which 298 are active cases. The maximum of these - 158 cases (including 137 in 31st battalion in Delhi’s Mayur Vihar) have been reported by the Central Reserve , followed by Border Security Force (BSF) – 67, ITBP – 45, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) – 15 and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) – 13 cases. The majority of the cases are in Delhi.
Around 10 lakh strong border guarding forces are deployed for counter-insurgency, border protection and law and order duties across the country.
The spike in Covid-19 infections in CAPFs in the last one week has raised concerns among the top brass of the forces which have asked troopers to maintain the highest levels of personal hygiene and maintain social distancing at work.
The CRPF headquarters was sealed over the weekend and is likely to reopen on Wednesday while BSF too sealed two floors at its headquarters after a driver there was found positive.
Meanwhile, the ITBP has designated its largest Covid-19 hospital in Noida for the personnel of all forces.
“ITBP has started treating the Corona positive personnel at 200 bedded CAPF Referral Hospital based in Greater Noida. This Hospital is now dedicated to corona patients only. Personnel from all Central Armed Police Forces have also been admitted in this Hospital. Currently, 52 have been admitted from the ITBP and BSF (44 from ITBP and 8 from BSF) at the Referral Hospital,” the ITBP said in a statement.
