Army, cops screening soldiers for infection

Srinagar: Army, paramilitary forces and local police authorities are taking all steps necessary to avoid Covid-19 infection among the soldiers. UT police Chief Dilbagh Singh told media that all precautions are being taken and 300 new recruits of Jammu and Kashmir police have been kept under quarantine in Kathua, Jammu.

The Army top brass has recently instructed all their units to screen soldiers twice a day during the parades and any symptomatic soldier to be sent to isolation centre set up in every unit. PRO of Northern Command in Jammu said that after the Covid-19 threat, distance between beds in the barracks has been increased, meals are being served at staggered timings to avoid crowding in the dining halls. Northern command of the army had asked its troops who are returning to Jammu and Kashmir from leave to report at the screening centers established in various transit camps in order to combat Covid-19. CRPF and BSF high command in Jammu and Kashmir has issued similar instructions for its troops who are returning to go through screening at different centers established in the paramilitary camps. A senior CRPF officer told media that distance between the beds in the camps has been increased and they are not allowing crowding of soldiers in the dining halls.

Strict instructions have been given to the Army, paramilitary forces and police that after the medical screening of soldiers, they should be quarantined for 14 days in separate rooms established in all camps and units. The efforts of the Army to combat Covid-19 became visible as one of soldiers tested positive in Ladakh. Northern Command is keeping its troops ready so that they can assist local administration if the coronavirus spread on a large scale.
On the request of senior officers in CRPF and police, the government has allowed them to increase bed capacities in barracks and establish different meal serving points to avoid crowd like situation among the soldiers. “Surveillance and control measures have been put in place and a number of innovative awareness programmes are being run by the field formations and units for the benefit of the populace, particularly in rural areas,” Lt. Col. Navneet, PRO Northern Command told media in Jammu.