Six cops, pregnant woman test positive for COVID-19 in Coimbatore

"The infected personnel had taken all precautionary measures like using facemasks and gloves but still contracted the virus while working in the containment zone," said a senior health official
Sanitary workers and police personnel working side by side in the fight against COVID-19. A scene at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. (Photo | EPS/A Raja Chidambaram)
Sanitary workers and police personnel working side by side in the fight against COVID-19. A scene at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital. (Photo | EPS/A Raja Chidambaram)

COIMBATORE: Six police personnel -- three men and three women -- and a 20-year-old pregnant woman from Sirumugai have tested positive for COVID-19 in Coimbatore.

The six police personnel, who were earlier working in the containment zone in Podanur, recently joined duty after completing a seven-day quarantine period. Similarly, the pregnant woman was residing in the containment zone in Sirumugai.

Deputy Director of Health Services G Ramesh Kumar said swabs were collected from all seven after they showed COVID-19 symptoms. All of them have been isolated as of now, he added.

He said, "The infected personnel had taken all precautionary measures like using facemasks and gloves but still contracted the virus while working in the containment zone."

Ramesh said they have tested nearly 450 police personnel in the past few days but all have tested negative for the virus.

Meanwhile, the Public Health and Preventive Medicine Department has asked the police department, healthcare services and civic body to encourage frontline workers in containment zones to undergo 14 days of quarantine instead of seven days.

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