COVID-19 spreads among Indian police enforcing world's greatest lockdown
07 May, 2020
A huge selection of Indian police have tested positive for the coronavirus in recent days, raising alarm among an over-stretched force since it attempts to enforce the world's most significant lockdown.
About 3 million police want to ensure that the vast majority of India's 1.3 billion persons stay home, with TV footage early in the crisis showing police beating back migrant workers as they tried to board city buses to attain their villages, making a mockery of social distancing.
India has been under lockdown since Mar 25 and has confirmed practically 50,000 coronavirus cases and 1,694 deaths.
A senior officer in the western state of Maharashtra said the quantity of cases had nearly doubled in the authorities force there in the last week. Maharashtra, the hardest-hit state, has reported a complete 15,525 cases as of Tuesday (May 5).
"More than 450 persons from the state police have finally tested positive and four have died because of the virus," the officer said on condition of anonymity.
Control rooms were being setup exclusively to deal with medical issues faced by police in Maharashtra, according to the state's home minister, Anil Deshmukh.
Police fired tear gas at a crowd of protesting migrant employees in the neighbouring state of Gujarat this week and launched baton charges against hundreds queuing at liquor stores in New Delhi, even as the first steps were being taken up to relax the lockdown.
Last month, doctors had to re-attach the severed hand of a policeman, who was simply attacked while trying to enforce the lockdown in northern Punjab.
Six senior police in at least six states said a large number of police within their states were seeking sick leave, fearing becoming infected.
The official with India's Home Ministry said it had been aware of the problem and was monitoring the problem.
"Patrolling and crowd control in COVID-19-affected areas is becoming more threatening than fighting criminals," said Salunkhe, a Mumbai policeman who agreed to be quoted using his last name. "At least in those cases we can start to see the enemy."
In Gujarat, at least 155 police plus some paramilitary personnel have been infected, according to a senior official.
The police commissioner of the state's main city, Ahmedabad, told Reuters that 95 police and paramilitary members have been hospitalized with COVID-19.
A senior federal home ministry official said he feared that thousands more police could test positive and spread the virus amongst their families in police housing.
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