Twenty-one police personnel in the Ernakulam Armed Reserve camp had tested positive for SARS-COV-2 till Wednesday, sending around 50 of their colleagues into quarantine.
Among the infected include four drivers belonging to the motor transport wing. The camp accounts for 600-odd cops, of whom around 100 will be available at any given time.
“The infection among drivers could pose a bigger problem, as they would have come into contact with a lot of police personnel as part of their duty. If the drivers are indisposed in large numbers, the operation of police vehicles will also be seriously hit,” said a Kerala Police Association office-bearer, who further warned that at this rate the camp was in danger of getting turned into a cluster on its own.
Many of the infected personnel were deployed for various duties across the city, and hence there is a possibility of them having infected others with whom they may have come into contact during the course of their duty.
The only minor relief to cops in the city being a recent order issued by the Deputy Commissioner (Law and Order) G. Poonguzhali, directing that 20% of the staff strength in every police station being retained as a buffer to carry out station duties uninterrupted in the event of any widespread infection. They will remain in home quarantine and alternate in seven-day cycles.
“Kochi city perhaps remains the only police division in the State to have such an arrangement as of now,” said police association sources.
Though the State Police Chief had issued a circular to have such a reserve arrangement with half the strength in every police station at the start of the spike in infections months ago, it was not executed, since performing COVID-19 duties with depleted strength was found impractical. Shortly thereafter, law and order issues also started cropping up, following which the plan was dropped altogether.