By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Oct. 10: The Naxal-based Nepal Police Headquarters in Kathmandu has not been as bustling as it used to be in the past. With the increase in coronavirus infection among the police personnel, the activity has decreased since July 24.
The number of visitors meeting the Inspector General of Police (IGP) has also gone down. Coronavirus infections have started invading the police headquarters since July 24.
In the last two months, every day more than 20 police personnel have tested positive for COVID-19 at the police headquarters. Many of the personnel have been discharged after recovering from the virus.
As of Thursday, 558 active cases of COVID-19 are at the police headquarters, according to Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) and spokesperson at Nepal Police Headquarters Kuber Kadayat. Active cases of the coronavirus have not been below 200 despite various control measures are adopted on its premises, he said.
Compulsory provision of maintaining social distance, wearing masks and using sanitizers has been implemented at the headquarters, he said.
"At present, only a limited number of staff members are working due to the risk of the virus. Entry of staffers and visitors are prohibited except for urgent work," SSP Kadayat said.
So far, more than 800 people have been infected inside the police headquarters.
The number of infected staff members in the police is also increasing across the country.
Growing cases of infection in the force have also affected the morale of the staffers. In the last two months, the police headquarters has become a hotspot of the virus.
“On July 9, flood and landslide in the Jambu river of Sindhupalchowk devastated a settlement. At that time, the Police Headquarters had deployed a team from its Disaster Management Branch for search and rescue of the missing people in the disaster. After the rescue, the team returned to Kathmandu,” SSP Kadayat said.
Three of the returnees, who showed the symptoms similar to coronavirus, were later diagnosed with coronavirus at the Nepal Police Hospital, Maharajgunj. This was how the virus entered the police headquarters on July 24.
Then their contact tracing started. Most of the other staff members got infected after their deployment at the management desk of COVID-19, the vehicle section (MT) of the police headquarters and the communication directorate.
Even now, the police officers believed that the risk had increased as they had to go for rescue operation at different times.