Thirty-four trainee police personnel at the Police Training College at Kalyani Dam in Chittoor district tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday.
A senior official at the PTC confirmed to The Hindu that at present, 348 trainee police constables are awaiting their passing-out parade after completing both indoor and outdoor training. The batch, comprising only men, had arrived at the PTC in December last year. Due to the pandemic outbreak, the passing-out parade was put on hold.
A couple of days ago, some of the trainees began displaying COVID-19 symptoms. “We informed the Collector immediately about the development. A mobile testing unit conducted tests on 100 trainees. While 34 tested positive, results of another 50 personnel are awaited. After updating district authorities about the situation, we will initiate steps to conduct tests on all trainees on the campus,” the official said.
It is suspected that the virus might have spread to the trainees through some of the visiting instructors from other PTCs in the State.
The trainees housed at the PTC are from nine districts of Andhra Pradesh, including Visakhapatnam, Krishna, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Nellore, Anantapur, Kurnool, Kadapa and Chittoor.
