NEW DELHI: Sixty-one personnel of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), including 59 who were part of the relief and rescue work in West Bengal during cyclone Amphan, have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said on Tuesday.
While two of the infected men are attached to the headquarters in Delhi, 59 personnel from different battalions tested positive upon return to their base in Odisha and Chennai from cyclone-hit areas of West Bengal. Officials said that most NDRF men are asymptomatic and are under observation. Only few of them are hospitalised due to the infection but they are all stable, they said.
The 59-men were part of the 300-strong team that had gone to West Bengal last month from Odisha. “In view of inquiries it is informed that on testing of #NDRF personnel in Odisha after return from #CycloneAmphan duties 50 were found positive of nearly 190 personnel tested for COVID19. So far all these personnel are asymptomatic & under observation,” NDRF DG SN Pradhan tweeted late on Monday night. The NDRF had deployed 19 teams in West Bengal for relief and rescue work during and after the cyclone that made landfall on May 20. Each team has about 45 personnel.
Until now, COVID-19 cases in NDRF remained in single digits even as infections in Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) had crossed 1500.
With over 1500 cases and 10 deaths, CAPFs have been among the worst affected groups. CRPF and BSF, which have been at the forefront of law and order duties in various cities, have the largest chunk of infections among paramilitary forces, together reporting more than 1000 cases of coronavirus infection. However, given the high fitness standards and young profile of the forces, they have shown high rate of recovery, almost over 80% in BSF. Of the 504 cases reported in CRPF, 345 have recovered. In BSF, there have been 535 infections till date but only 108 are under treatment at the moment.
The Indo-Tibetan Border Police force, which guards the India China border, has reported 213 cases of which 186 have recovered. The CISF, which handles security at airports and vital installations, had around 366 cases of which 217 have recovered. NDRF, NSG and SSB have together accounted for around 135 cases, sources said.