Majority of infected BSF personnel are from Delhi with over 110 cases. (Express photo)
Eighty-five more personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Wednesday, taking the total to 152. With this, total cases of COVID-19 infection in BSF have surpassed those in CRPF, which has recorded 137 cases so far.
Majority of infected BSF personnel are from Delhi with over 110 cases. Rest of the infected personnel are from the Tripura frontier of the force.
The BSF, with about 2.5 lakh personnel, is tasked to guard India fronts with Pakistan and Bangladesh.
85 test positive in @BSF_India for #COVID?19 today. Total infections reach 152 in the force. Majority in Delhi with over 110 cases. Rest in Tripura. This takes BSF ahead of CRPF in infections. CRPF has had 137 infections. @IndianExpress
— Deeptiman Tiwary (@DeeptimanTY) May 6, 2020
The force headquarters, whose two floors were sealed two days back, is “functional” from Wednesday, a BSF spokesperson told PTI.
On Tuesday, at least 24 people including military personnel were tested positive for Covid-19 at a hospital in Delhi.
The Indian Army had reported its first case of coronavirus on March 18 when a 34-year-old soldier in Leh tested positive for the disease after coming in contact with his father, who had returned from a pilgrimage to Iran.
Overall, the toll due to the coronavirus rose to 1,694 on Wednesday, while the total number of cases increased to 49,391 including the 14,182 people who have been treated and discharged so far.