At a time when Odisha is witnessing a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases, the police force managing the State’s largest urban agglomerations — Bhubaneswar and Cuttack — is relatively untouched by the coronavirus, having reported only one case so far. A police constable, the lone personnel who tested positive last month, has since recovered.
Daily screening
“A lot of planning has gone into our strategy for fighting the pandemic. Police personnel are frontline warriors playing a critical role in the government’s response to any disaster. Our duty is to keep them safe. Every morning, doctors screen 8,000 police personnel before their deployment,” Sudhanshu Sarangi, Commissioner of Police for Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, told The Hindu on Monday.
“We have been isolating symptomatic personnel and testing them. Symptomatic personnel are regularly shifted from one barrack to another. Personnel with comorbidities are not deployed in crowded places. We have been taking preventive action diligently since the outbreak of COVID-19,” said Mr. Sarangi.
A four-page standard operating procedure (SOP) prepared by the Police Commissionerate also requires accused to be tested before being produced in the local court.
Best practices
Since Mumbai Police have been severely affected by COVID-19, the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police have remained in touch with their counterparts, learning the best practices and avoiding oversights.
Dr. S. K. Das, who is responsible for the daily screening of nearly 1,000 personnel assigned to provide security for the Governor, Chief Minister and other top dignitaries, said a surveillance register was being maintained for symptomatic police personnel, who receive regular phone calls from doctors to inquire about their health.
“We carry out thermal screening of police personnel deployed at critical places such as containment zones, railway stations and crowded places, where the chances of being exposed to migrant workers arriving by trains is high. The screening is done twice a day. Random swab tests and follow-up of symptomatic personnel is carried out scrupulously, in accordance with protocol,” said Dr. Das.
Police personnel have been supplied with Vitamin C tablets to boost their immunity. Women police are administered Vitamin E. All police personnel, from ground level staff to officers, are advised to use sanitisers and masks.
PPE provided
Going a step further, the Cuttack Police recently supplied five PPE (personal protection equipment) kits each to 18 police stations under their jurisdiction.
“Although the PPE kit is meant for protecting police entering high risk zones such as quarantine centres and hospital areas, our personnel have already used PPE at selected places,” said Akhileswar Singh, Cuttack Deputy Commissioner of Police.
Mr. Sarangi, however, added, “The PPE kit is not recommended for all police. Most of our duty is carried out outdoors. There are meticulous procedures for putting on, removing and finally disposing PPE. Circumstances do not allow police personnel to adhere to strict methods.”
