NDRF reports first COVID-19 case; 43 fresh infections in CAPFs

New Delhi, May 22

An official of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been found positive for COVID-19, the first case such being detected in the federal contingency force, officials said on Friday.

They said the Sub-Inspector rank official was on leave and had gone to a doctor for some dental treatment, following which his COVID-19 test was done.

The NDRF official has been admitted to an isolation ward in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) Referral hospital in Greater Noida on Thursday.

The official was posted in the headquarters of the force, here, and was on deputation from the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), they said.

The NDRF, raised in 2006, is a 12-battalion strong force of the Central Government for disaster response and over 40 teams of it are currently deployed in Odisha and West Bengal for relief and rescue works in the wake of cyclone ‘Amphan’.

The CAPFs, which comprises the CRPF, the ITBP, the BSF, the CISF and the SSB, reported has 43 fresh cases since Thursday.

The Border Security Force (BSF) reported 24 fresh cases on Friday, of which seven personnel are posted at the headquarters in Delhi.

“All fresh cases have been reported from Delhi and they work in various establishments of the force.”

“This personnel were the primary or secondary contacts of earlier detected positive staffers and were not working in the office and were already in quarantine,” a BSF spokesperson said.

The Pakistan and Bangladesh borders guarding force has a total of 108 active cases, while 277 of its troops have recovered.

The airports guarding force, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), also reported 13 fresh cases with four reported from its unit deployed to guard the Bokaro steel plant in Jharkhand.

The force has a total of 100 active COVID-19 cases while 71 have recovered from the disease.

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) reported five fresh cases and its overall active cases tally stand at 125.

A total of 213 CRPF personnel have recovered to date.

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police had one fresh case, taking its total active cases tally to 105. A total of 82 of its personnel have recovered till now.

The Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), guarding the open Indian fronts with Nepal and Bhutan, has 30 active cases.

Personnel of the elite counter-terrorist force, NSG, was also infected with the disease early this month. PTI

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