Coronavirus strikes cops, 1,500 test positive at Karnataka

Coronavirus in Karnataka: With 3.09 lakh positive cases and 5,232 deaths, Karnataka continues to be one of the worst-hit states in the country.

The situation continues to be grim with a large number of police personnel in the state testing positive for the virus. Several police stations have personnel who have tested positive for the virus. More than 1,500 police officers and personnel in Bengaluru were infected by the coronavirus while 14 died of the infection. "As on date 1501 from Bengaluru City Police have got affected by the coronavirus. Unfortunately, 14 of them expired due to this disease,"  Bengaluru police commissioner Kamal Pant said on Thursday during a webinar on 'Reboot Namma Bengaluru' organised by the 'Namma Bengaluru Foundation,' a not-for-profit organisation.

Pant said those who contracted the disease are only one per cent of the total workforce. Most of the infected policemen have recovered and 1,100 have resumed their duty, he added.

He said many of the men in khaki came forward to donate their blood plasma to help others recover. He also pointed out that the police were the first to respond to the migrant labourers' issue during the lockdown by opening kitchens at every police station to serve free food to them. While the migrant labourers created ruckus elsewhere in the country, Bengaluru by and large remained calm due to the good policing, Pant said.

He appreciated his predecessor Bhaskar Rao for tackling the issue in an effective and human way. Pant hailed the Residents Welfare Associations, NGOs, citizen groups and people in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic stating that they ensured the strict implementation of the lockdown norms to contain the spread of the disease.