Dakshina Kannada cops divide duties as COVID-19 cases among cops rise

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, July 04, 2020:    As many as 19 police officials in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka have now tested positive for coronavirus. This includes four central crime branch (CCB) police personnel who tested positive for the virus on Friday. Others who have tested positive for the virus include an official of the ACP rank and 12 from Ullal police station, a police official in the district told TNM.

 

A policeman from Mangaluru Rural station and another from Puttur station have also been infected. All the personnel who tested positive have been admitted to the designated COVID-19 hospitals.

City police commissioner Vikash Kumar Vikash said adequate protection has been provided to police personnel who were fighting the pandemic and the members of their families.

They’ve also divided the workforce in such a way that officials who work with the public don’t enter police stations.

"We have divided outdoor and indoor work. The police officials who come in contact with the public are now staying away from working in the police station. After ten days, their swab is taken and if it is negative, they return to work at the station after 3-4 days of rest," a police official in the district told TNM.

Earlier in May, a police official working at the Vittla police station in the district tested positive for coronavirus. At the time, the police station was sealed off for days and more than 20 police officials working in the station were quarantined. The police station was also sanitised.

Currently, the protocol does not state that police stations will be sealed off. Instead, the workspace of the infected official will be sealed off for 48 hours and sanitised.

As of Thursday, the total coronavirus cases in the district stood at 923 and the toll 18 while the state’s infection count has crossed the 18,000 mark with 272 deaths. Ninety COVID-19 cases were reported in Dakshina Kannada on Thursday including Mangaluru North MLA and BJP leader Bharat Shetty, who took to Twitter to announce that he tested positive for the virus. He asked residents in the district to take COVID-19 precautions seriously and wear masks.

Courtesy:The News Minute