MYSURU: As many as 470 police personnel have been infected with Covid-19 since its outbreak in the district.According to the data available with The New Indian Express, of those infected, 323 are from the city. They include 170 city civil and city armed reserve (CAR), 26 from Karnataka Police Academy, 96 from Karnataka State Reserve Police, 6 railway police etc. While 223 have been discharged, others are under treatment.And the remaining 147 are police personnel belonging to various police stations in the district who have contracted the virus. Four cops, including one from the forest cell, have succumbed to the virus in the district.
Not just the ground level and field staff, but even top cops including City Police Commissioner Dr Chandragupta and Mysuru Superintendent of Police C B Rishyanth were infected with the virus. They were on the frontline helping people amidst the Covid-19 scare.On the brighter side, the recovery rate has been high.Shivakumar R, Additional Superintendent of Police, said that most of the recovered police personnel are back on duty.
“They are upbeat and want to serve people even better. We have also taken all preventive measures and are strictly adhering to the guidelines to prevent the spread of the virus,” he said.“We have lost our four brave officers in this fight. To avoid such cases in the future, we have informed all officers above the age of 50 to undergo frequent medical tests. We are also restricting home isolation to those at risk,” he said.The men in Khaki are not just back on duty but are also setting an example by voluntarily coming forward to donate their blood plasma to help others recover.