BHOPAL: Of the 44 Madhya Pradesh police personnel who lost their lives to COVID-19 this year, 42 died in April alone. The month has seen a dramatic rise in the number of COVID cases in the state. About 30 of the 42 who died this month had received at least one dose of a vaccine.
Most of the deaths have occurred in the 50-60 age-group. Some of those who died are between 40 and 49 years of age. An assistant sub-inspector aged 38 was the youngest among the 42 cops who died this month.
Compared to the last year, the current year has seen a steep rise in COVID-19 deaths among police personnel. If 35 cops died of the infection between March and December 2020, 44 have died so far this year. In fact, more cops have died of COVID this month than all of last year. This is despite the fact that about 90 per cent of the state’s police force has been vaccinated against the deadly infection.
According to Madhya Pradesh DGP Vivek Johri, who spoke to The New Indian Express, most of the cops who have died had either obtained the first dose or both the doses of the COVID vaccines. "Most of those who died had co-morbidities like blood pressure, heart ailments and diabetes," the DGP said.