Kolkata: Traffic department fights the virus

KOLKATA: A section in the traffic department has been forced to introduce rotational duty and another had to be shut down after Covid-19 infection began to spread among the cops, especially over the past 96 hours. Importantly, most of these sections are located at the traffic police headquarters, Lalbazar.
So far, nearly 700 cops in Kolkata Police have tested positive and 553 have recovered. The daily cases average has now reached 25. The state, overall, has reported more than 1,100 Covid cases among its policemen cutting across all its units.
Jorabagan traffic guard at present has four active cases that were reported within the past 10 days. A constable — who worked as a guard of a senior officer — had to be put on ventilation on Wednesday. Initially, admitted to the Covid unit of a Biresh Guha Road hospital, he had to be shifted to a facility off EM Bypass since he needed a ventilator. Another sergeant is now at a hospital in Jadavpur along with his family and a third officer is admitted to a hospital near his residence. A fourth officer is in quarantine in Rajarhat with mild symptoms.
The headquarters, too, has been hit with reports of Covid cases coming from both the reserve officer’s office (HR department) and the office superintendent sections (deployment wing) of the traffic department. While the RO himself has been asked to work from home, several of his officers are on quarantine. Even the traffic control room has reported cops with Covid like symptoms. Nine fresh cases were reported this week from Charu Market and Entally police stations.