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Delhi ITBP camp sealed as 23 more test Covid-19 positive

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | ByNeeraj Chauhan
May 06, 2020 05:01 AM IST

The sealed houses the 22nd battalion of the ITBP; it has a strength of around 1,000 personnel who all are under observation and 76 are in quarantine.

Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) suspect that a retired officer who died of Covid-19 had infected many other men as the number of infections in the unit where he stayed rose to 45 on Tuesday and forced it to seal the Tigri camp in Delhi, an ITBP officer said on condition of anonymity. It is also possible some of the men may have been caught the infection when they were posted outside the camp, the officer said.

The decision to seal the camp was taken after 23 more men tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. The camp houses the 22nd battalion of the ITBP; it has a strength of around 1,000 personnel who all are under observation and 76 are in quarantine.

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“We are trying to identify the source of infection in the force but preliminary assessment is that a retired ITBP officer, who was staying at Tigri camp and died due to Covid-19 on Sunday at Safdarjung Hospital could be the carrier,” the officer cited above said.

“The retired officer had contracted Covid-19 infection sometime in mid-April but there were other comorbidity factors due to which he died,” the officer added. Retired officers are sometimes allowed to stay on in camps on compassionate grounds, including health.

ITBP suspects that some personnel may also have contracted the infection while performing law and order duties in different parts of Delhi. Out of these, 43 personnel were deployed for performing internal security duties in the national capital and two with Delhi Police, ITBP said in a statement.

ITBP reported its first Covid-19 case April 28. On Monday, the number reached 21 before it more than doubled to 45 on Tuesday; 43 of these were from the Tigri camp and the remaining two were stationed in Delhi’s Rohini.

Central paramilitary forces, also called Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), reported a total of 286 Covid-19 cases from across the country until Tuesday. The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) reported the most number of cases, 158, of which 142 were posted at its 31st battalion in Mayur Viihar. The Border Security Force (BSF) has reported 67, the Central Industrial Security Force 15 and Sashastra Seema Bal 13.

CRPF headquarters was sealed over the weekend and is likely to reopen on Wednesday while the BSF too sealed two floors at its headquarters after a driver tested positive.

The spike in Covid-19 infections in CAPFs in the past one week has raised concerns among the top brass, which has ordered troopers to maintain the highest levels of personal hygiene and follow social distancing norms at work.

ITBP has designated its largest Covid-19 hospital, in Noida, for troops from all paramilitary forces.

“ITBP has started treating the Corona positive personnel at 200 bedded CAPF Referral Hospital based in Greater Noida. This Hospital is now dedicated to corona patients only. Personnel from all Central Armed Police Forces have also been admitted in this Hospital. Currently, 52 have been admitted from the ITBP and BSF (44 from ITBP and 8 from BSF) at the Referral Hospital,” the ITBP statement said.

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