New Delhi, May 27 (IANS): A total of 22 new coronavirus cases were reported among CISF personnel in the last 24 hours, taking total such cases in the central force across the country to 95.
Maximum cases among infected CISF men were those deployed at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC).
The recovery rate in the 1.62-lakh strong paramilitary force is satisfactory even as five Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel were cured and discharged on Wednesday. The total cured patients in CISF is 137.
As per CISF data, three new cases were reported in the last 24 hours among personnel deployed at the IGI Airport. As many as 18 personnel were found corona positive from the same unit on Tuesday.
The force clarified that all 21 infected personnel are under strict quarantine for the last 10 days and are not reporting on duty.
"They were part of contact tracing of two earlier positive cases among CISF personnel in this unit. All such contact-traced personnel were kept quarantined in a separate building for the last 10 days."
Of the total 95 CISF corona positive personnel, 57 are posted in Delhi, 26 in Mumbai, four in Jharkhand, three in Kolkata, two in Chennai and one each in Hyderabad, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.
Among the 57 infected CISF men in Delhi, 28 were deputed at Delhi airport and 21 at DMRC and eight on different Central Government Building Security (CGBS) duty.
Out of 26 infected CISF personnel in Mumbai, 14 were deployed at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), five at Mumbai airport, three at Hindustan Petroleum/Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, and one each at the government mint, Mumbai Port Trust, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation -- an Indian multinational crude oil and gas corporation.
Among others infected, four were deputed at Bokaro Steel in Jharkhand, two each at the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSEL) in Kolkata and Chennai airport, and one each at Kolkata Port Trust, BHEL (Hyderabad), NTPC (Koldam) in Himachal Pradesh, and P&HCS (Chandigarh).
A 55-year-old CISF Assistant Sub Inspector died in the second week of May in Kolkata.
Increasing corona cases among CISF and other central paramilitary forces is a major concern for authorities. Nearly 800 CAPF personnel have been infected with the deadly virus, though more than 500 have since been cured.