Two Army personnel test positive for coronavirus

A doctor and a junior commissioned officer in the Indian Army tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday, official sources said.

The Colonel-rank doctor is serving at the Command Hospital in Kolkata while the JCO is posted to an Army base in Dehradun.

The sources said the Army has traced all those who have come in contact with the two persons and accordingly they were quarantined.

Both the doctor and the JCO are understood to have visited an Army facility near the national capital earlier this month.

The two persons are keeping good health, said the sources.

A couple of weeks back, an Army jawan tested positive for COVID-19. The soldier was on leave at his home in Leh, taking care of his father who had returned from Iran and was infected.

The soldier has already recovered, according to an official.

On Friday, Army Chief Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane launched an initiative christened 'Operation Namaste' to insulate the 1.3 million strong Army from the pandemic and extend all possible assistance to the government in containing it.

Gen Naravane asked all Army personnel to take prescribed precautions against the virus.

"I would request everyone to take care of themselves and their families. Your safety is my first responsibility," the Army Chief said.

"I want to assure all the soldiers posted on the border that we will take special care of your families. We will achieve success in the 'Operation Namaste'," he told reporters.

India has reported over 1,000 coronavirus cases and 27 deaths.