CISF unit guarding Mazagon Dock in Mumbai reports COVID-19 cases

The Central Industrial Security Force reported 22 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, with the maximum 13 coming from its unit that guards the warship building Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) in Mumbai. The MDL is one of the country's leading defence public sector undertaking shipyard that constructs warships and submarines. It functions under the command of the Defence ministry.

This is the second defence PSU where CISF has reported coronavirus infection among its personnel after its unit deployed to provide counter-terrorist cover to warship building facility, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSEL), in Kolkata. At least 40 CISF personnel posted at the GRSEL unit had contracted the infection, apart from the death of an Assistant Sub Inspector rank official.  Only two personnel of this unit are now under treatment and the rest have recovered.

As per latest data, the CISF saw 22 fresh cases of coronavirus since Tuesday, with 13 in MDL Mumbai, three each from its unit that guards the Delhi airport and Delhi Metro, two in the government building security unit based in Delhi and one at ONGC Mumbai. The total active CISF cases at MDL are 14 now.

The about 1.62 lakh personnel strong force has a total of 95 active COVID-19 cases, while 137 have recovered and five personnel are recovering. "All the fresh cases reported from the unit that guards the Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi is of those personnel who were not on duty," a CISF spokesperson said. "They were under quarantine as part of contact tracing of those troops who were found positive for the pandemic earlier," the spokesperson said. All such contact-traced personnel were kept quarantined in a separate earmarked  building since the last 10 days, he added.

The Delhi airport CISF unit, like the other airport units in various cities, has been continuously working to facilitate passengers boarding or de-boarding special rescue flights from or to India during the lockdown period and the unit is now securing the IGI after a limited number of regular commercial flights began from Monday.

Location-wise, Delhi has maximum 57 active COVID-19 cases in the paramilitary followed by 26 in Mumbai, 3 in Kolkata, 4 in Bokaro (Jharkhand) and two in Chennai. The force has reported three deaths due to coronavirus. The CISF is the national civil aviation security force guarding 63 airports at present apart from securing vital infrastructure in the nuclear and aerospace domain.