Hyderabad Police facing heat of Covid third wave

Hyderabad: The police force in the capital city is facing the heat of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, with huge numbers of police personnel contracting the virus while being on active duty. Despite getting nearly 95 per cent of its force vaccinated against Covid-19, the police department has been hit by the virus. […]

Hyderabad: The police force in the capital city is facing the heat of the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, with huge numbers of police personnel contracting the virus while being on active duty.

Despite getting nearly 95 per cent of its force vaccinated against Covid-19, the police department has been hit by the virus. Though exact numbers are not available, officials say almost every other police station in the tri-commissionerates – Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda – and others across the State as well, has reported Covid infections among their personnel.

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A bulk of the cases is from Hyderabad, including the unit in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area.

According to sources, a majority of them were down with fever and had exhibited symptoms. As they continued to have symptoms, they got tested and with the results showing them to be positive, most of them were shifted to home isolation.

Standard operating procedures

Meanwhile, senior officials, who felt the need to prevent further damage done by Covid-19 in the law enforcement department, are taking brisk steps in putting standard operating procedures (SOPs) relating to the pandemic in place.

The police force is leaving no stone unturned in an attempt to give all the support to the affected personnel during the pandemic. Learning from its past experience, the department is adopting a multi-pronged strategy to protect its personnel and their families from being affected by the virus.

“The staff on testing positive for Covid are being immediately home isolated. Their family members are advised home quarantine and to get tested as well,” a senior official said.

After the positive cases, all the primary contacts were tested and other staff, who were primary contacts to the infected persons, were also asked to get tested.

“As a preventive measure, police stations are being sanitised and Covid safety protocol is being strictly followed. In addition to providing timely medical assistance, the department has also been focusing on providing moral and psychological support to the affected persons,” the official added.

This time around, the department has also set up an assistance mechanism for the benefit of their Covid-affected personnel and their families at different levels, which is being monitored continuously from the State Police Chief’s Office.

Telangana has seen a spurt in Covid cases, with a majority said to be caused by the Omicron variant, and over 2,000 cases reported in the last few days on a daily basis.

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