21 Indian Navy personnel test positive for COVID-19 in Mumbai
New Delhi, April 18 :
Twenty-one Navy personnel have tested positive for COVID-19 at a major naval facility in Mumbai after which tests are being carried out on all the people who came in contact with them in the force.
The sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in the Navy has come days after Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh said that caregivers cannot become care seekers and urged his people to remain safe.
“The COVID-19 positive patients include 20 sailors of INS Angre, a shore establishment at Mumbai. Most of these are asymptomatic and have been traced to a single sailor who was tested positive on 07 April,” Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said.
“They all reside in the same accommodation block at INS Angre. All primary contacts, though asymptomatic, were tested for COVID-19. The entire inliving block was immediately put under quarantine – containment zone and INS Angre too is under lockdown,” he stated.
All actions as per established COVID-19 protocols are being taken by the Navy after this sudden spike.
“There are no cases of infection onboard ships and submarines and Indian Navy continues to actively support the National effort in the fight against COVID-19,” the Navy said.
A total of 120 people live in the building in which the first infected sailor was staying and 68 people have been tested, so far.
The Navy has now shifted the infected personnel to their INS Ashwini Navy Hospital in Mumbai for treatment.
Navy officials said the number of infected personnel may go up as the test results of many personnel are still awaited.
o far, 13 people have lost their lives due to the virus in the state, while 92 people have recovered/cured.
“12 new positive cases have been reported from April 17, 5 pm to April 18, 12 noon,” the state health department said in its daily bulletin.
Out of the total cases found, three are from Mysuru, two each from Kalaburagi and Bagalkote and one each from Vijayapura, Hubballi-Dharwad, Hirebagewadi in Belagavi, Gadag and Malavalli in Mandya district.
The department has appealed to the doctors, who are willing to volunteer in the fight against coronavirus, to reach out to the government.