A police head constable, A. Paramasamy (48), attached to Madurai City Traffic Police, died due to COVID-19 in Tirumangalam on Wednesday evening.
He is the 4th police personnel from Madurai City to succumb to the viral infection since 2020. Three Special Sub-Inspectors of Police died during the first wave.
A 1997-II batch police constable, Paramasamy, was admitted to a private hospital in Tirumangalam on April 27 for chest congestion. This is the second time he had contracted the infection after having been infected in 2020. He had recently taken the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
‘All precautions taken’
Meanwhile, Commissioner of Police, Prem Anand Sinha, said that all those police personnel with serious co-morbidities, pregnant personnel and those who had recently undergone surgeries have been asked to avail themselves of leave as a precautionary measure.
He said that all police personnel have been strictly told to use masks and maintain physical distancing both in police stations and at public places. All the police stations were being disinfected regularly; all touch-points in the stations were sanitized frequently.
The police personnel were being checked with thermal scanners and pulse oxymeters when they report for duty. “We have instructed our men to avoid unnecessary meetings,” Mr. Sinha said.
Flying squads
Meanwhile, the city police have posted 10 flying squads, two each for five ranges, headed by an Inspector of Police, to implement lockdown restrictions.
The teams will ensure that people do not move without masks and do not crowd. Similarly, they will check that only permitted shops are kept open. Apart from the local police, the flying squads will also impose fines on the violators.
While the police will ensure free movement of vehicles for essential services and goods, unnecessary movement of people would be curtailed after noon, a police officer said.
Traffic police and local police have been deployed at important junctions for vehicle checks.
