Mumbai Police Launches Five New COVID-19 Helpdesks for Its Personnel

Frontline workers, including police personnel, have witnessed the impact of the pandemic firsthand with several police officers and constables succumbing to the virus since last year. 

Keeping this in mind, Mumbai Police has set up five coronavirus helpdesks on a regional level to assist police personnel and their families get timely healthcare facilities. Assistant police inspectors will monitor the desks at these locations. 

Vishwas Nangre Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), said, “Earlier, we had only one desk at the CP’s office but considering the current situation, five more helpdesks have been set up at the regional level to collect details of positive cases in the force and supply the required medicines, help them get beds in hospitals and oxygen supply as well. The desks will also coordinate with their family members.”

Though more than half of the police force has been vaccinated, there have been some rare cases of vaccinated officials testing positive for the virus. Around 36 police personnel have tested positive for the virus over the past eight days.

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A spokesperson for the Mumbai Police, DCP S Chaitanya said, “So far, 2,921 officers and 28,951 constables have received their first dose, and 1,532 officers and 17,967 constables have got their second dose.”

Additionally, Mumbai Police has reopened the COVID Care Centre (CCC) with a 250-bed capacity at Kolekalyan in Santacruz East. This CCC was closed last year after the number of cases dipped significantly. 

Read - Mumbai Police Reactivates Its Covid Care Centres Amid Rising Cases In The Department

On April 21, 2021, Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale announced Rs 2 crores from the police welfare fund to offer Rs 2 lakh each for every police station to purchase masks and hand sanitizers.

Since the pandemic began last year, 8,372 cases of COVID-19 have been identified from the police force with 7,589 of them making a full recovery. However, 103 police staff lost their lives to the virus. As per current data, there are 671 active cases among police personnel in the city.

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