‘Over 85,000 cases booked against those without masks’

Steps are being taken to implement COVID-19 norms, says Police Commissioner

Staying protected: Police Commissioner Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal overseeing the COVID-19 vaccination drive in Egmore on Saturday.

City Police Commissioner Mahesh Kumar Aggarwal said police personnel have been taking a series of steps to enforce COVID-19 norms, such as wearing masks, maintenance of physical distancing and others.

At the police quarters in Egmore, Mr. Aggarwal on Saturday inaugurated a special programme to get police personnel and their family members in the city vaccinated. He said the primary duties of the police force were to maintain law and order, crime prevention and regulating traffic. “Keeping this in mind, we have adopted a strategy to contain the spread COVID-19,” he said.

Awareness campaigns

“We have been conducting a series of awareness campaigns and meetings with traders’ associations. We have explained the precautions to be taken and the guidelines to be followed. In all slums, patrol vehicles have been creating awareness of the necessity of wearing masks, following physical distancing and maintaining hygiene. At important traffic junctions, traffic police personnel, using public address systems, are creating awareness. All wings of the police are participating in the campaign,” Mr. Aggarwal said.

He said so far 85,764 cases had been booked against people for not wearing masks, 117 cases for quarantine violation and 1,50,318 cases for flouting physical distancing norms.

A three-pronged strategy was effectively being implemented, he said.

Mr. Aggarwal said so far, 3,315 police personnel had COVID-19 and 87 personnel were still either under home quarantine or in isolation or under treatment in hospitals.

“Only 6,000 police personnel have been vaccinated. Whoever is eligible should not stay away from vaccination. We have taken efforts to increase the coverage. Police personnel should not be complacent even after vaccination,” Mr. Aggarwal said.