COVID-19: 278 Maharashtra Police personnel test positive in last 72 hrs, tally at 5,713

As many as 278 personnel of Maharashtra Police tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 48 hours, taking the tally of confirmed cases in the force to 5,713, the department said on Wednesday. One policeman succumbed to the Coronavirus disease in the same period, and the death toll now stands at 71 (1.2%).

The number of active cases in Maharashtra Police force currently stands at 1,113, of which 121 are officers. On the other hand, 4,531 (79.31%) cops have recovered from the highly infectious respiratory illness so far.

Meanwhile, state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh on Tuesday announced that the government will recruit 10,000 youths in the police force to strengthen law and order in the state and reduce the stress on the existing force. He also informed of the government's decision to have Maharashtra's first-ever women battalion of 1,400 women personnel in Katol, Nagpur.

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Coronavirus outbreak

Maharashtra on Tuesday reported 5,134 fresh cases of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel Coronavirus, taking the overall tally of confirmed cases to 2,17,121. The death toll rose to 9,250 after 224 patients succumbed to the illness in the last 24 hours. The number of recovered patients jumped by 3,296 in the same period to reach 1,18,558. As of July 7, there are 89,294 active cases in Maharashtra.

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