Police personnel need more protection from the virus

It is disturbing to learn that the police hospital in Dhaka has been overwhelmed by patients due to the number of COVID-19 infected police personnel. As of the time of writing this editorial, one hundred and thirteen police personnel have tested positive for Covid-19 across the country, according to statistics reports of the Police Headquarters. Of these, 93 are members of the DMP. The total number of infected policemen now stands at 854. And unfortunately, we have lost five infected police personnel so far. It may not be remiss to suggest that the matter of PPE for personnel engaged in the frontline of the battle has, particularly, not been adequately addressed.

The type of work the police are doing at this time, the chances of their catching the coronavirus are perhaps more than any other citizens—they being in the thick of the battle to prevent the spread of the virus.  Unlike the other citizens, stay at home order does not apply to them and they have to be on the job 24/7. But even considering their susceptibility, when they are engaged in ensuring social distancing, with most people preferring to disregard the instructions, and people coming out in droves in markets, the infection figure among the police, which is nearing a thousand, is indeed too many.  The cramped living conditions in the police lines increase the chance of spread of the virus among the police.

We believe that firstly, adequate and appropriate personal protection equipment should be provided to the police, particularly to those who are on the streets. Secondly, testing for the virus should be carried out on the members of the law enforcing agencies, so that the positive cases can be segregated. Thirdly, their living conditions must be made more hygienic. Last but not the least, the efforts and resources of the police hospitals in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country must be supplemented so that fatalities can be kept to a minimum. The country can ill afford the police overtaken at any time, more so now.