17 asymptomatic Punjab cops test positive for COVID in random sampling

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 13

A total of 17 Punjab Police personnel have tested positive in a random sampling of 7,165 cops posted in various police stations and on other frontline jobs.

The police personnel were tested as part of a special RT-PCR COVID testing drive ordered by DGP Dinkar Gupta amid apprehensions of a spike in cases in the wake of relaxation of the curfew in the state, and almost three months of multifarious frontline duties by around 48,000 policemen working 24/7 during the statewide lockdown.

This translates into around 0.9 per cent positive cases of the total samples for the police force, as compared with the average of 2 per cent positive cases for the entire state, said Gupta.

The state’s higher percentage among general population was understandable since testing of citizens is normally carried out either for symptomatic individuals or for their primary or secondary contacts, in contrast to the random exercise conducted among asymptomatic Punjab Police personnel, the DGP added.

The DGP disclosed that of the 17 positive cases, 14 belonged to district police, two (including a cook) were from State Armed Police/Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) and one from Punjab Home Guards (PHG).

Sangrur has reported the maximum number of positive cases, said the DGP.

While 1,868 of the 7,165 samples collected till June 12 had tested negative, results for 5,280 were pending, said Gupta, adding that the sampling process started on June 1, and efforts were being made to test a maximum number of police personnel posted in police stations and other high risk areas on a daily basis depending upon the spare sampling and testing capacity available with the Health Department.

He further said that all the 17 infected cops were in isolation, either in Civil Hospitals or in the COVID care centres established by the Punjab Health Department.

The DGP had, through a video-conference, directed all SSPs/CPs and IGs to conduct RT-PCR test for all police personnel with high risk exposure, with focus on personnel engaged in frontline roles in over 400 police stations of the 27 revenue/police districts of the state.

The DGP directed the district police chiefs, as well as the Special DGP of the State Armed Police, to carry out the random sampling of a cross-section of the Punjab Police personnel, including drivers of police vehicles, prison vans etc.

He told the officers he was concerned about the probability of increase in infection among police personnel deployed on public and frontline duties.

Since the Health Department had a shortage of trained sampling teams, the doctors and paramedics attached with the police were put through a quick training programme by the Health Department in taking samples.

The exercise would help the department in making an assessment of the extent of problem in the police force, and would also enable the department to ensure the best possible medical treatment to the policemen and their families, said the DGP.

It would also help the Punjab Police make proper arrangements and build adequate capacity for testing and medical treatment of its personnel to combat any crisis situation in the future.

Meanwhile, a Covid positive ASI, with co-morbidities, was reported to be in critical condition in Amritsar, the DGP informed.

He was, however, not part of the random sampling exercise undertaken by the department, Gupta said, adding that all out efforts were being made to ensure the best possible treatment through the expert group set-up by the Punjab Government under Dr KK Talwar, former Director, PGIMER, Chandigarh.