New Delhi, May 8: The number of COVId-19 cases in the Border Security Force (BSF) jumped to 223 today after 30 more personnel tested positive for coronavirus.
This takes the number of cases in the 9 lakh-strong paramilitary forces to over 500, including 162 in CRPF, 102 in ITBP and 14 cases each in CISF and SSB. Of the new cases, 24 are from Tripura while six are from Delhi. Two BSF personnel died on Thursday due to the deadly disease; everyone who came in contact with them have been placed under precautionary quarantine. Two have recovered.
The 24 new patients from Delhi been admitted to AIIMS Jhajjar while the Tripura BSF personnel are at the GB Pant Hospital in state capital Agartala.
Tripura, which had declared itself COVID-19 free last week, now has 88 active cases, Chief Minister Biplab Deb said. Eighty six are from a single BSF unit. Tripura now has the highest number of cases in the northeast.
Out of the six new cases from Delhi, two were posted at the force’s headquarters in Delhi and four were posted at other units in the city.
Three floors of the headquarters have been sealed after the rising number of cases in the BSF. Sanitisation has been increased and water cannons are being used for quick disinfection of buildings, a BSF spokesperson said.
The BSF said most of its infected personnel have contracted the virus in the line of duty. Most of the infected people have been asymptomatic, the BSF said in a communique Thursday. Over a hundred personnel who have been infected were assisting the police in their duties in old Delhi’s Jamia and Chandni Mahal areas.
Well-equipped quarantine and isolation centres as per prescribed norms have been established. All the guidelines are being followed in this matter, the BSF said.
