One more cop tests +ve, 5 in quarantine, Kashi tally 37

TNN | Apr 27, 2020, 04:00 IST

DM, SSP and CMO at Sigra police station to monitor screening of cop

Varanasi: Three more Covid-19 positive cases, including a policeman, were detected in the district on Sunday. The police constable is from the same Varanasi Municipal Corporation outpost of Sigra police station, where seven cops had already been confirmed as positive, said District magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma adding that two men from Arjunpur village in Sevapuri block also tested positive following which the village has been declared 8th hotspot of the district.
On Saturday night, eight persons, including seven policemen of Sigra police station were confirmed Covid-19 positive following which the officials quarantined six policemen who were in their contact and started screening of all personnel of the police station. The reports of these six cops arrived on Sunday confirming one of them positive.
DM Kaushal Raj Sharma said the new cases were detected after the arrival of test reports of 117 samples from BHU laboratory. Now, number of total policemen infected has gone up to eight.
A 50-year-old and a 37-year-old man of Arjunpur village worked in wood market of Neemtalla Bhootnath in Kolkata as loading labourers. They had left Kolkata on April 17 and reached their village on April 22 hiding in trucks.
Their family had denied them entry after which the village head took the duo to Shivpur sample collection centre on April 23, said the DM adding that they were quarantined by the villagers. They have been admitted to DDU district hospital’s isolation ward.
The abrupt leap in novel coronavirus cases over last two days and seven police personnel being detected as infected had already left senior officials of district administration and police busy in finalising strategies for contract tracing on Sunday.
Besides, the areas from where people turned up at Varanasi Municipal Corporation outpost to collect food packets also came on the radar.
On Saturday night, 95 test reports arrived from BHU laboratory and confirmed eight were infected, increasing the total number of cases in district to 34, including the eight who have been discharged and one died. The 25 active cases are being treated at DDU district and BHU hospitals.
DM Kaushal Raj Sharma said, “A sub-inspector, three head constables and three constables posted at VMC outpost of Sigra police station have tested positive. Initially, the SI had developed symptoms. His subordinates staying in the outpost barrack were infected by him. They had been quarantined at a guest house in Dashashwamedh two days ago and their samples have been sent for test.”
In addition to the seven policemen, a 39-year-old trader of Lallapura also tested positive and was sent to DDU district hospital.
On Sunday morning, DM Sharma and SSP Prabhakar Chaudhary started tracing contacts of all infected police personnel. They visited DDU district hospital’s isolation ward to inquire about the condition of the seven policemen.
The officers also visited the quarantine centre where five policemen are staying. Later, they supervised the screening of all policemen deployed at the Sigra and Dashashwamedh police stations.
All police personnel were given zinc and vitamin C pills for boosting immunity.
The areas from where people used to come to VMC outpost to collect food packets are also being identified to start screening, the DM said.
The total number of Covid-19 positive cases in the district has now reached to 37. A total of 19 cases were detected till April 21 since the first was reported on March 21.
Eight persons including three women had been discharged from the hospital after getting cured while one had died on April 3. Now total active cases in the district are 28.