NE NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, APRIL 18
A total of 21 serving personnel, including 20 sailors, have been tested positive for COVID -19 within naval premises at Mumbai, a Defence spokesman said.
At least 20 sailors of the Indian Navy at INS Angre have tested positive for Covid-19 in Mumbai on Saturday. The INS Angre is a shore-based logistics and shore-based support establishment of the Western Naval Command.
According to officials, the sailors have been admitted to the naval hospital INHS Asvini in Mumbai’s Colaba and are in quarantine. They said 14 of the 20 are asymptomatic. The Navy is yet to officially comment on the matter.
The sailors had stayed in the same residential block at INS Angre and are said to have been infected by a person who tested positive on April 7.
They all reside in the same accommodation block at INS Angre. All primary contacts (though asymptomatic) were tested for Covid 19. Entire in-living block was immediately put under quarantine – containment zone and INS Angre too is under lockdown.
All actions as per established COVID-19 protocol are being taken.
The Navy is looking into the possibility of the men having moved around within the Navy facilities for essential duties even though the city is otherwise under lockdown.
The Naval Dockyard in Mumbai, which houses the bulk of the sword arm of the Western Naval Command, including its warships and submarines, lies just a few hundred metres away from INS Angre. However, there are no cases of infection onboard ships and submarines.
This is the first case of coronavirus being reported in the Navy. The Army has eight cases so far. “We have only eight positive cases in the entire Indian Army. Of the eight, two are doctors and one nursing assistant. Four are responding well to the treatment,” Army Chief General M.M Naravane said on Friday.
The Navy Chief in an address to his men on April 19 had asked his men to “pray for the best, but prepare for the worst.”
The services have sealed of cantonments, naval bases and air force stations to control the spread of the virus. All social gatherings, travel, leaves, and conferences have been cancelled.
The scare of 20 navy personnel being infected comes at a time when both the US and French Navy are facing a massive outbreak on their warships.
Indian Navy continues to actively support the National effort in the fight against COVID -19.
