In a first, Odisha cop tests positive for coronavirus
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BHUBANESWAR: A constable of the commissionerate police in Bhubaneswar tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday. This is the first detection of Covid-19 positive case in the police department in Odisha.
“We have been regularly conducting Covid test on our personnel. Some samples from collected from the police reserve line on Monday. Report of an armed police reserve (APR) has come positive,” a senior police officer told TOI.
As the first positive case in Odisha police set the alarm bells ringing for the men in uniform, government has started the contact tracing. “The constable has been admitted to a Covid care hospital here. We have quarantined some staff of the reserve police line. All precautions and government guidelines are being followed,” the officer said.
At least 6,000 police personnel have been deployed on Covid duty in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. Recently, the commissionerate police sent a proposal to the state government to set up a Covid hospital for treatment of cops only. Segregation of personnel with comorbid conditions away from Covid-19 duty, decongestion of barracks, operation of fever clinics with infrared thermometers provided to all police stations and deployments of medical officers to monitor health conditions of cops are the key precautions adopted by the commissionerate police to keep Covid-19 virus at bay.
Meanwhile, the swab reports of some personnel of Kumbharapada police station in Puri are yet to reach the district police. The cops underwent Covid test after coming in contact with a theft accused, who tested positive at Puri jail on Sunday. This was the first detection of Covid-19 positive in a jail in Odisha.