VIJAYAWADA: Compared to the first wave of Coronavirus, the State police department was hit hard in the second wave of the pandemic. The department, which is in the forefront in the fight against the pandemic, has lost 70 personnel of various ranks among the 5,500 infected in the second wave, in just two months — April and May so far. As many as 110 fatalities were reported in the police department in the first wave of the pandemic — from March to December last year, said Director General of Police (DGP) D Gautam Sawang.
The DGP, however, said the curve is flattening and the State is witnessing a slump in new Covid-19 after the government imposed the 18-hour daily curfew. He said exposure to the public during the local body elections and Tirupati by-poll in the state and election duties in the neighbouring Tamil Nadu may have led to the spike in infection among police personnel.
According to the information obtained from police headquarters, 70 police personnel of various ranks from SP to constable died due to COVID-19, including two pregnant constables. Of the total police strength of 63,000 in all the 980 police stations across the state and other wings such as CID, ACB, Vigilance, Fingerprint, Forensic and technology department, around 5,500 police personnel or nearly 8.7 per cent of the force have infected with the virus in the second wave. More than 700 police personnel were hospitalised and some are in serious condition.
“The intensity of the Coronavirus is high in the second wave and we did not expect this much fatality,” Sawang told TNIE. During the first wave from last March till January this year, around 18,000 policemen tested positive for COVID-19 and 110 succumbed to it. “Keeping that in mind, we have taken precaution against the deadly virus. Unfortunately, the new strain spread very quickly,” Sawang observed.
Asked whether the election duties can be attributed to the spread of COVID-19 in the department, the DGP, neither accepted nor denied it and said “the police, anyway, are exposed to the public during duties and cannot hide from the virus”.
“It’s a fact that several police personnel, who were sent to Tamil Nadu for election duties, were infected and they were isolated to contain the spread of coronavirus. As part of duties, police need to interact and mingle with people. Same is the case during the local elections,” the DGP explained. Sawang said all the unit heads were instructed to set up a team to monitor the health condition of 2,300 active cases and pregnant women staff and report it to headquarters on a daily basis.