SunstarTV Bureau: Much to the relief of Odisha Police, the impact of the second wave of Covid-19 in the force has been miniscule so far. While 8,902 cops had contracted Covid and 48 of them had succumbed to it when it had first struck, the number of infected personnel in the second wave has been in double digits with zero casualty.
Police attributed the low infection count among its personnel to the massive vaccination drive. Of the 62,706 personnel, who had registered themselves for the vaccination programme, around 94% (59,438) have taken their first dose and 91% (57,385) their full dose of the vaccine.
“We have found negligible traces of the virus among our personnel so far this year. Very few police personnel have been infected with mild symptoms. Vaccination played a pivotal role in checking the spread of the infection in our force,” additional director general of police (law and order) Yeshwant Jethwa said.
Despite being vaccinated, the police personnel have been asked to follow Covid-appropriate protocols during the enforcement of the night curfew and weekend shutdown in the state.
“The risk factor still persists as the police personnel have to keep vigil on the roads to enforce the Covid guidelines and deal with the violators. They have to wear protective gears for their safety while carrying out these drives. Any negligence will not only derail the enforcement drive, but also the basic policing and investigation of cases in the police stations,” another police officer said.
The first crackdown by the police during the second wave started on April 7 and continued for 10 days across the state following a directive by chief minister Naveen Patnaik. The police acted against 1,01,057 violators of Covid protocols in the state and collected nearly Rs 2. 98 crore in fines from them.
The police headquarters has asked the police stations to ensure that their personnel are in personal protective equipment (PPE) kits while conducting raids and arresting the accused persons. They have also been asked to sensitize visitors/complainants to wearing masks, maintaining social distance and using hand sanitizers at the police stations.
Last year, the policing and crime control activities were adversely affected following large-scale infection among the police personnel.
Hospitalization and home isolation of a number of police officers had led to temporary closure of several police stations in the state. Complaint boxes were kept outside police stations to enable complainants to drop their grievances without any close contact with the police personnel.
(Sources: TOI)
