Explore providing face shields to cops: HC

Nagpur: Concerned over increasing numbers of police personnel testing Covid-19 positive and eight of them dying, the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court directed the government to explore whether they could be provided more protective gear like face shields while on duty. The HC sought suggestions from all respondents.
The issue was raised by intervener Dr Anup Marar’s counsel Tushar Mandlekar who informed that over a thousand cops all over Maharashtra had contracted the virus while on duty.
Citing an example of new Bombay municipal commissioner wearing the face shield, Justice Madhav Jamdar asked the government to check whether similar gear could be provided to cops.
While granting time till Thursday to government pleader Sumant Deopujari to file a reply, the judge also asked him to take expert opinion on how to protect the cops.
Quoting a media report, Mandlekar informed that over one lakh police personnel, including men and women, are deployed on Covid duty across Maharashtra. He said the number of positive cases among them has jumped four times in the last few days.
Mandlekar warned that if steps were not taken to protect them, things would move out of control, as they come in direct contact with citizens and each positive person can infect 400 others as per the findings.
Strongly pressing for conducting RT-PCR tests on those who are on duty in containment zones, Mandlekar informed that in city about 600 cops are deployed in such areas. He claimed that despite his prayer in this regard, the government had failed to reply for nearly two weeks. Citing urgency, he said the problem of front-line warriors fighting the pandemic and getting infected is more dangerous than those of migrants.
While replying to interveners’ allegations, Deopujari said they were providing masks, sanitizers and gloves to all cops on duty. He said in few cases face shields were given to the personnel along with homeopathic medicine.
Justice Jamdar however stated that he had never seen any cop wearing face shield after which the government pleader assured to take immediate instructions from the concerned ministries on the HC’s poser. The judge then told Deopujari to incorporate this aspect in his affidavit to be filed on Thursday.