Army Hospital R&R in Delhi: No health staff have been reported to be positive at the hospital (File)
Twenty-four people including several serving and retired military personnel admitted to the Army Hospital (Research And Referral) at the Delhi Cantonment have tested positive for coronavirus, sources in the army said on Tuesday.
All the people who have tested positive are from the cancer department and shifted to the Base Hospital which has been designated to treat COVID-19 patients, sources said.
None of the health staff have been infected, they added.
The 24 people were in-patients at the Research and Referral hospital and they included serving and retired military personnel as well as their dependents, the officials said.
After a patient tested positive, authorities at the premier hospital carried out a detailed contact tracing.
"Quarantine protocol and testing of those in high risk group was carried out," said one of the officials.
It is the second biggest case of the outbreak hitting the armed forces.
Last month, 26 Indian Navy personnel tested positive for the infection at the strategically-located Western Naval Command in Mumbai.
On Friday, Army Chief Gen MM Naravane said that 14 coronavirus cases were found in the Army and five of them have recovered so far.
The Indian Army, which reported its first coronavirus case in March, was asked to stay on guard against the deadly outbreak along with other security forces in the country.
The Indian Air Force has not reported any coronavirus case yet.
More than 46,000 coronavirus cases have been reported in India so far including 1,583 deaths. The country recorded the biggest single-day jump in the number of coronavirus patients and deaths linked to the illness as 3,900 new cases were reported and 195 COVID-19 patients died in the last 24 hours.
(With inputs from PTI)