Over 50 police personnel test COVID-19 positive in Karachi

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Karachi: More than 50 police personnel have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Karachi, officials said.

According to documents reviewed by Dawn news on Monday, six inspectors are among the 51 personnel of the Sindh Police whose tests have returned positive.

Sindh province is the worst-hit in Pakistan. Of the total 13,947 cases in the country, Sindh accounts for 4,956 infections.

Of the 51 police personnel, one inspector has recovered from the disease and has been discharged from the hospital, while the rest are admitted to isolation wards of different hospitals in the metropolis, Dawn news quoted a police official as saying.

On Monday, two police personnel, including a sub-inspector and a head constable, were confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus while performing their duty at a cash distribution facility at the Government Degree College, Quaidabad in Karachi.

“So far, no police official has been infected with the virus in other major cities of Sindh,” the officer added.

According to Karachi City police chief Additional Inspector General Ghulam Nabi Memon, the majority of infected police officials in the city were not those deployed in active field duty.

Meanwhile, the death toll in Pakistan has increased to 293.