At least 15 police personnel have so far tested positive for the coronavirus in the city, prompting higher authorities to direct senior officers to get tests done of the infected policemen’s family members and colleagues, officials and sources said on Monday.
The development comes as 156 of the 227 new coronavirus cases confirmed in Sindh on Monday were detected in Karachi, indicating a rise in local transmission of the virus. Among the Covid-19 positive policemen are two inspectors and as many sub-inspectors while most of the remaining officials are either head constables or constables deputed at different places in the city.
Except one inspector who tested positive in March, all other policemen tested positive in the last 20 days, according to a list of infected police personnel.
Police sources said that one of the policemen who tested positive is a personal staff officer (PSO) to a deputy inspector general (DIG) while another is the driver of another DIG rank officer. Two other such policemen were posted at the offices of as many senior superintendents of police (SSP) in the city.
According to the sources, 22 family members of one Covid-19 positive policeman were tested for the virus, out of whom eight close relatives turned out to be positive. A colleague of an infected policeman also tested positive while the results of tests of several family members and colleagues of other positive policemen are awaited.
A senior officer said that all the infected policemen have been admitted to the isolation wards of different hospitals in the metropolis. Only one police officer was in serious condition who has since “slightly recovered” after treatment at a private hospital.
Meanwhile, Sindh Inspector General of Police Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar on Monday directed the DIGs and SSPs of all ranges, districts and units to ensure tests are carried out of the family members and colleagues of all policemen who test positive or those personnel whose test results are awaited.
An official notice issued by AIG Welfare Tauqeer Mohammed Naeem directed the DIGs and SSPs to send the reports of tests of police personnel and their families to a focal person appointed by them.
