The pandemic seems to be getting a fresh grip over police personnel in Ernakulam rural, especially in Aluva, in a week marked by the local body polls.
At last count, 42 police personnel have tested positive for SARS-COV-2 in the past one week with the Aluva East police station alone accounting for 30 of them. The District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) also remains in quarantine after his gunman recently tested positive.
With more police personnel set to undergo tests in the coming days, the number may escalate further as was feared in the post-election scenario.
The Aluva East police station with a strength of 76 personnel has been further stretched thin with 20 of them being assigned various duties, nine being deployed for duty at the counting centre, and another five being among the 200-strong contingent from rural police being deployed for the final phase of polling at Kannur. Two cops assigned for security duty at the counting centre were also tested positive on Friday. The station can now, at best, do with basic duties with its severely depleted workforce.
Discontent is brewing among the force against the alleged denial of permission for quarantine to even those considered to be primary contacts of the infected. This, they feared, would trigger further spread of the disease among their family members and the public.
No relief seems to be in sight with police deployment imminent over the decision of the Jacobites faction of the Church to launch their protest in churches in the district from Sunday, triggering apprehensions of a greater spread among the force. Police Association office-bearers said that requests had been made to exempt the Aluva East police from any such potential deployment.
Though initially there were dedicated quarantine facilities in Aluva and Perumbavoor for police personnel, they were more or less inoperative now with the majority of the infected staying back at their homes.
