The Delhi-based Army Hospital (Research and Referral) has reported 24 Covid-19 cases, including some serving personnel, two officials said on Tuesday. All the 24 positive cases are from the hospital’s oncology ward, said one of the officials cited above.
The positive cases include serving and retired personnel and a few of their dependents and all of them have been moved to the army’s Base Hospital in Delhi Cantt, which is dedicated to Covid-19 patients, said the second official.
No healthcare worker has tested positive for Covid-19 yet, the second official said, adding that necessary protocol including contact tracing is being followed.
The single largest episode of coronavirus infection in the Indian military is from the Indian Navy with 26 of its sailors from a key naval base testing positive last month. The sailors were from INS Angre --- a logistics and administrative support base under the Western Naval Command. All the naval cases were traced to a single sailor.
Apart from the Indian military, 45 personnel of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), 67 personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) and at least 135 troopers from the Central Reserve Police Force’s (CRPF) 31st battalion, have been found positive for the disease.