Twenty-three constables of the Third Battalion of the AP Special Police (APSP), who were deployed in the COVID-19 containment duty in Guntur and Vijayawada recently, have tested positive on Saturday. The battalion is stationed in Kakinada city.
“Twenty-three among the 101 constables who have just returned from their duty in Guntur and Vijayawada have tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday on our campus in Kakinada. We have requested Joint Collector (Development) Ch. Keerthi to shift our personnel to a hospital or the nearest quarantine facility,” M. Nagendra Rao, Additional Commandant, said.
“We do not have sufficient accommodation that meets the home quarantine parameters on our campus. Any delay in providing health care will lead to the spread of the disease among the other constables in the battalion,” Mr. Nagendra Rao told The Hindu.
By Saturday, the count of COVID-affected constables had reached 34 in Kakinada.
When contacted, DMHO M. Mallik said the APSP authorities had been asked to manage the situation by preferring home quarantine within the battalion campus.
Death toll
A 42-year-old woman belonging to the Cheediga area in East Godavari district died of COVID-19 on Saturday while undergoing treatment in Visakhapatnam, taking the COVID-19 death toll to five.
The woman had been admitted to the Government General Hospital in Kakinada with COVID-19 symptoms on June 9 and immediately shifted to Visakhapatnam for medical treatment, Mr. Mallik said.
