100 Police Personnel in Maharashtra have lost lives due to COVID-19

Maharashtra is currently the worst-hit state in the country with over 4 lakh coronavirus cases. Since the beginning of the pandemic, frontline workers have been working day and night in the state. For their lockdown duty, police personnel have been posted at various containment zones, quarantine centres, COVID-19 hospitals and other areas in the state.

As per recent reports, the total number of infected police personnel in Maharashtra has reached 9,096, and around 1,912 cases are active. Further, the highest proportion of patients have been found in the Mumbai Police force. So far, 7,084 personnel have recovered from the deadly virus and most of them have rejoined the duty. 

About 138 new infected cases have been reported in the last 24 hours and two police personnel have succumbed to the virus. The fatality toll in the state has reached up to 100 in the police force. The death toll includes eight senior officers and 92 police personnel.

A report has revealed that police personnel are vulnerable to the disease as their duty of maintaining law and order has included taking extra tasks due to the lockdown. This has taken a toll on their health, where issues such as indefinite hours of duty, lack of exercise and unbalanced diet have affected their daily lives. Owing to this, the immune system of the officers and staff has weakened and they are being infected by coronavirus (COVID-19)

Recently, the department began the Rapid Antigen Detection Test (RADT) from July 24 to July 29 at 94 police stations in Mumbai with the help of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). This was conducted for early detection of infected patients and to curb the spread in the police department as quickly as possible. In addition to that, separate quarantine centres have also been set up for the police force.

It was recently reported that 3,466 police personnel and about 77 police officers were tested positive for the virus in the western suburbs of Mumbai. Due to insufficient manpower, the stress on the police force is increasing day by day in the state. 

As per the state health department, on Wednesday, Maharashtra's total COVID-19 caseload reached 4,00,651, including 2,39,755 recovered cases, 1,46,129 active cases and 14,463 deaths.