CRPF Delhi Headquarters Sealed As Staff Tests Positive For Coronavirus

The headquarters of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in Delhi has been sealed for sanitisation after a driver working at the building tested positive for the novel coronavirus or COVID-19, which has infected over 39,000 people in India. At least 1,300 deaths linked to the highly infectious illness have been reported so far.

No one will be allowed to enter the building in the national capital's Lodhi Road area till further orders, said the officials.

On Saturday, the CRPF - one of the oldest central paramilitary forces in India - said that 122 jawans of a battalion in the city have tested positive for coronavirus in two weeks. The men are from the 31st battalion of the paramilitary force based in east Delhi's Mayur Vihar Phase-3, which has been completely sealed after a huge jump in the number of COVID-19 cases. Test results of 100 others are yet to come, the  paramilitary force said. 

The jawans who tested positive are being treated at a facility in the capital's Mandawali.

The large number of cases coming from a single battalion, which has over 1,000 jawans, has become a matter of concern for the Home Ministry, sources in the Home Ministry said. 

The sealing of CRPF's Delhi headquarters comes days after the office building of NITI Aayog - the government's policy think tank -  in central Delhi was sealed for 48 hours after an employee working there tested positive for coronavirus. People who came in contact with the employee were asked to quarantine themselves, NITI Aayog said.

"An employee working at NITI Bhavan has been detected positive with COVID-19. It was informed to the authorities at 9 am this morning. NITI Aayog is following all the due protocols necessary as per the Ministry of Health guidelines. The building has been sealed," NITI Aayog tweeted on Tuesday. 

The national capital has recorded the third highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country. The city registered the biggest spike in coronavirus cases on Saturday with 384 new cases, taking the total to 4,122.