THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of the death of a 55-year-old sub-inspector in Idukki district, the Kerala State Police Chief Loknath Behera has instructed the police personnel that the policeman above the age of 50 should not be deployed for COVID-19 field duty.
It is the first death of a police personnel reported in the state due to COVID-19 infection. The deceased is Ajithan. He died in the Kottayam medical college hospital late Friday. The DGP also added that the policemen who have other diseases should not be deployed for duty and they should be given duty off based on their requests. The Kerala Police Headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram has been closed for two days as a Sub-inspector in the reception has tested positive on Friday. Behera said that the functioning of the headquarters will not be affected as Saturday and Sunday are holidays. The headquarters will reopen on Monday after disinfecting the whole building.
In a major concern, as many as 92 police personnel in the state have tested positive for COVID-19 until Friday. They include three policemen at Kilimanoor police station in Thiruvananthapuram district, the gunman of the deputy speaker and a sub-inspector at the police headquarters in the capital. With this, the other personnel at the Kilimanoor police station and other officers in the headquarters who had contacted the infected officers have been asked to go into quarantine. As per the latest information, 23 policemen are under treatment at various COVID First-Line Treatment Centres in the state. Of the 92 infected officers, 69 have recovered, according to the police.
The DGP on Friday said the state police have devised new strategies, which will be implemented from Saturday. From now, senior officers will be deployed to contain the spread in the police force. A special drive titled 'Protect to Protect' has also begun in the state to ensure that the police personnel on COVID-19 duty are safe.