Another policeman tests positive at Kalamassery

One more civil police officer (CPO) of the Kalamassery police station in Ernakulam tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on Friday.

He was among the primary contacts of his colleague who tested positive late on Wednesday night. He is already at an institutional quarantine facility at Edakochi and is likely to be shifted to the Government Medical College shortly. His family also remains quarantined.

Thankfully, the test results of 13 other police personnel who were also among the primary contacts of the infected one have proved negative.

“Both the infected CPOs hailed from Vengola and used to come to the station together daily. Vengola (near Perumbavoor) has now been declared a containment zone,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) G. Poonguzhali.

Fifty-nine police personnel attached to the station were sent into quarantine on Thursday after the first policeman was tested positive.

Meanwhile, protest is brewing among police associations against what they perceive as the haste in reopening the Kalamassery station on Thursday afternoon, just hours after the cop was tested positive.

“Around 40 police personnel from various police stations within the Thrikkakara sub division were drafted in to resume the operation of the Kalamassery station after an initial disinfection. They are angered by the move and are anxious for the safety of their families, including children and aged ones. The station could have been shifted to the metro police station in the immediate neighbourhood at least till all the quarantined cops were tested just as what was done in Mananthavady in Wayanad when policemen were tested positive there,” said a police association office-bearer.

He said that a primary disinfection was unlikely to ensure complete safety since the personnel who came in as replacements had to use the very same articles used by their colleagues now quarantined.

Ms. Poonguzhali, however, shot down this allegation. “The station was disinfected and was certified as safe by health authorities. Hence, there was no need to shift it to another building. All those working out of the station have also been given N95 masks and gloves,” she said.

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