HP police headquarters sealed; DGP, 27 officers test negative after COVID-19 scare

Shimla, Jun 9 () The Himachal Pradesh police headquarters was sealed on Tuesday as the state police chief and 28 other security personnel home-quarantined themselves after a man who had met the top cop died of coronavirus, an official said.

Himachal Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjay Kundu and 27 other officials tested negative for the disease, while one sample needed to be repeated, a senior health official said.

A total of 29 samples were sent to the Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) here from the police headquarters, IGMC senior medical superintendent Janak Raj said.

Twenty-eight samples, including that of the DGP, tested negative, while one sample was inconclusive and needed to be repeated, he said.

A man had visited the police headquarters to convey his best wishes to the DGP on his day of joining on June 1, police spokesperson Khushal Sharma said.

It was learnt that the man tested COVID-19 positive on Monday and died of the disease on Tuesday in Delhi, he said.

Following the news, the DGP and 28 other police officials, who might have come in contact with the man, home-quarantined themselves as per the protocol, the spokesperson said.

The police headquarters has been sealed and is being sanitised, he said.

Sharma said the man had travelled to Delhi the same day he visited the police headquarters.

The areas he visited are being sanitised and sealed, he said.

The police did not reveal whether the man was a resident of Delhi or Himachal Pradesh.