Forces in Capital plagued by untraceable COVID-19 cases

New Delhi: With more than a dozen personnel from the 25th battalion of the Sahastra Seema Bal (SSB) having tested positive for COVID-19, a worrying trend has emerged in the Coronavirus cases being detected among members of these forces across the Capital — one where the initial source of infection remains untraceable.

The infection started in SSB when one of their men with the 25th battalion tested positive. About 29 other personnel, who were with at him in Ghitorini battalion were quarantined and tested, of which 13 came back positive.

According to a senior SSB official, the carrier through which the first man got infected remains untraceable. "Before coming back to the battalion, he was deployed at a crucial place in Delhi and lots of people used to go through that place of deployment. Seven days after joining the battalion he started getting symptoms and later tested positive," the official said adding that six reports are still awaited. The 25th battalion of SSB guards important government installations including the SSB headquarters.

Such instances of the untraceable first point of infection are not isolated. More than 60 BSF personnel have tested COVID-19 positive which includes over 32 personnel who were deployed with Delhi Police with untraceable sources of infection. "We can trace who was primary contact, secondary contact in our personnel but the actual carrier is still not clear," an official said.

In ITBP as well, 45 personnel tested COVID-19 positive. "Our men were deployed in various kinds of duty and we can't say how they caught the virus," an official said.

The same has been noted for the first CISF official to have tested positive in Delhi; whereas the CRPF has said that their nursing assistant's source of infection is also being determined.