Huge spike in police affected by Covid-19: 144 infected in 24 hrs

At least 144 more police personnel were infected with Covid-19 in the last 24-hours across the country, according to a tally of the Bangladesh Police Headquarters.

The total number of infected cases reached 1,429 today noon, a number that was 1,285 till yesterday.

Of the total infected cops, 708 are from Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).

A large number of the other infected personnel are from Narayanganj, Gazipur and Dhaka district, sources at the police headquarters said.

So far, 96 police personnel have recovered while six have died from the infection.

As Central Police Hospital is struggling to deal with the increased number of Covid-19 positive police personnel, Bangladesh Police has booked Impulse Hospital to treat its infected members.

"The hospital has been rented initially for two-and-half months. The Covid-19 positive police personnel will be treated at the 450-bed hospital," says a press release of Police Headquarters.

A memorandum of understanding has been signed on May 5 in this regard, and the hospital will soon start treating police personnel, it added.

Sohel Rana, assistant Inspector General (Media) of Police Headquarters, said both the police hospital and Impulse Hospital will treat Covid-19 positive police personnel.

At the moment, 472 more police personnel have been placed in isolation after they developed Covid-19 like symptoms while 2,814 others who were in close contact with the infected, have been put in quarantine.