So far, 140 Delhi Police personnel have tested positive for Covid-19, of which 35 have recovered and rejoined work. (Express Photo)
With over 100 Covid-19 positive police personnel and one death, Delhi Police has started a new system under which SHOs and unit heads will maintain a panel of names of doctors who can give advice to personnel through tele-conferencing.
As per a press note shared by Delhi Police Additional PRO Anil Mittal, “They can seek advice for themselves and their family, which often gets ignored since they are too engrossed in their work. The medical fraternity has assured their full support for this initiative. Several doctors, despite working so hard on the frontlines, have volunteered for the programme.”
Mittal said doctors from both government and private hospitals, such as St Stephen’s and BL Kapoor, have volunteered for this. The initiative will also help reduce the need for avoidable coronavirus tests and hospital admission, said the note.
So far, 140 Delhi Police personnel have tested positive for Covid-19, of which 35 have recovered and rejoined work. Last week, constable Amit Kumar (32), posted with Bharat Nagar police station, died, hours after he got a Covid-19 test done. The test came positive a day later. His family and two colleagues who were with Kumar till the end alleged that two hospitals had refused him admission.
In a message to all Special CPs, Joint CPs, Additional Joint CPs, DCPs and SHOs, Police Commissioner S N Shrivastava said Special CP (Traffic) has been nominated to coordinate admissions of Covid-19 positive personnel requiring admission in hospitals in emergency.
The message said, “Special CP (Traffic) may be contacted for such hospital admissions if the government hospital is unable to admit patients. Under no circumstances should a police person suffer on account of non-admission.”
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has also issued notices to the Chief Secretary, Delhi government, and Union Home Secretary “after taking suo motu cognizance of a complaint accompanied by a media report alleging negligence in the treatment of Delhi Police constable Amit Kumar who died due to Corona infection”.
As per the notice, it should include the SOP adopted by hospitals for Covid-19 patients and the status of its implementation.
The press note shared on the NHRC website says, “Alleged denial of admission in the hospital to a policeman… is a matter of concern for the Commission… Hospitals are required to tackle the situation very sensibly with a humane approach.”
A response has to be submitted within four weeks, said the NHRC.