Pune: Six more police personnel test positive for Covid-19, office duty for constables aged above 50

TNN | Updated: Apr 29, 2020, 06:56 IST

The total number of infected police constables has now reached nine

PUNE: Six more personnel from a centrally located police station in the city tested positive for Covid-19 and referred to a designated hospital for treatment.

They were part of the 100 personnel, who were referred to institutional or home quarantine on Monday after three of their colleagues had tested positive for the contagion. The test reports of these 100 personnel came on Tuesday and eight of them tested positive.
The total number of infected police constables has now reached nine. Earlier, three policemen from the police station tested positive for the virus. They are recuperating in different hospitals in the city and Pimpri Chinchwad.
“Nine policemen have so far tested positive for Covid,” said police commissioner K Venkatesham.
Joint police commissioner Ravindra Shisve told TOI, “On Monday evening, we decided to temporarily shut down some police chowkis. These chowkis are located in the red zones of the city. The decision was taken to reduce the contact of people with the police personnel.”
The daily functions of these chowkis will be done from the police stations. “The senior officers at the police stations will resolve the issues of the citizens at the police station by maintaining social distancing,” Shisve said.
In another case, an elderly woman staying in a police colony at Khadki also tested positive for Covid-19. She was admitted to a hospital, a senior police officer said.
The officer added that the city police have quarantined her son, a constable and other family members. Though the constable did not test positive for the virus, he was quarantined as a safety measure.
A senior officer told TOI that the police colony has been sanitized. The other policemen from the colony have been told to take precautions.
The police on Tuesday issued orders that the constables aged above 50 would do office duties. “They will not be given any bandobast duties or posted at check point on the roads. The aim is to safeguard the health of the police personnel aged above 50,” an officer said.