As many as 28 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel posted in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, officials said. They said the personnel were found infected during a contact-tracing exercise after the death of a 44-year-old coronavirus-infected constable on June 6. The officials said they had collected samples of 75 personnel from the 90th battalion where the deceased constable, a nursing assistant, was posted. The reports said 28 of them returned positive for coronavirus on Wednesday, the officials said. All the affected personnel have been isolated and other results are awaited, they said. A further contact-tracing exercise has commenced and the troops have been asked to immediately report if they feel any illness with COVID-19-like symptoms, a senior official said. The battalion is situated at Uranhall in south Kashmir. There have been four COVID-19 deaths in the country’s largest paramilitary force having 3.25 lakh personnel. It has 516 coronavirus cases till now out of which 353 personnel have recovered, as per latest data. Seven other positive coronavirus cases were also reported from various other units of the force on Wednesday.
