IndiaThis "phenomenon" rings "danger bells" in the state asonline transactions are minimal and mostly business is donethrough cash transactions, the police said, highlighting the"emerging pattern of new tested Covid-19 positive cases."
A memorandum to this effect was issued a couple of daysago to all Superintendents of Police, city Commissioners,Range DIGs and Guntur Range IG in the state from the DirectorGeneral of Police's office.
When asked how the police deduced that currency notescould be a carrier of the coronavirus, DGP D G Sawang told: "There is no proof or any established evidence ofcontamination by currency notes of any kind whatsoever in thestate."
He denied, "first of all" having sent the memorandum andnoted that "our staff in office have incorporated in one ofthe many routine messages which are sent on a daily basis tokeep alerting units on the ground." It was just one of thepossibilities of catching the infection, he pointed out.
The memo, however, caused ripples in the statebureaucracy with the IAS officers taking strong exception tothe DGP's claims, saying it could trigger "unwanted panic" ata time when the state was seriously fighting the pandemic.
"This is a thoroughly baseless circular without anyscientific thought. Police can't act like an authority untothemselves in such sensitive matters," a senior IAS officerremarked.
The DGP's memo made some interesting revelations but thehealth authorities, who are monitoring the coronavirus cases24x7, did not corroborate them.
The DGP's memo to his subordinate officers said people inEast Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts contracted thevirus though they did not have any travel history or contactwith primary\secondary contacts of any person who travelledwithin the country or abroad.
"They have done business in which they collected currencynotes from many persons while selling goods, essentialcommodities or collected monthly charges from multiple personsand got infected.
This clearly shows the currency notes as the culpritcarrying the virus from infected persons. This phenomenonrings danger bells in our state," the top police official'smemo said.
It listed cable TV operators, drinking water suppliers,milk vendors as some of the persons collecting money frommultiple customers.
Petrol stations, kirana shops, vegetable and fruitvendors and pharmacists also collect money from customers andin the process "may come into contact with contaminatednotes."
Referring to a case in Guntur district, the DGP officesaid registered medical practitioners who did not haveawareness about the virus were treating and collecting moneyfrom patients and getting infected. They were also infectingothers who come to them for treatment.
In the light of these, the DGP instructed all police unitofficers to propagate online transactions and ask people toaccept cash only after "sanitizing themselves and the currencynotes." DBVROH ROH