50 NDRF Personnel Test COVID +Ve After Amphan Relief Work in WB

Road blockage being cleared after a tree uprooted due to heavy winds and rain ahead of cyclone Amphan landfall, near R&B office in Bhadrak, Wednesday, May 20.

(Photo: PTI)

At least 50 NDRF personnel, who had gone from Odisha to West Bengal for relief work after Cyclone Amphan wreaked havoc in the state, have tested positive for COVID-19, The Economic Times reported.

According to news agency IANS, the personnel are from the National Disaster Response Force's (NDRF) Mundali Battalion at Cuttack.

Earlier, one NDRF jawan was detected positive for coronavirus after the unit returned from the cyclone-affected areas in West Bengal.

Amphan, the second super cyclone to form over the Bay of Bengal since 1999, made landfall in West Bengal on 20 May. More than 5 lakh people were evacuated in the state and 1,58,640 were evacuated in Odisha.

As many as 173 NDRF personnel of 3rd Battalion had recently come back from Kolkata and were tested for COVID-19 on their return to Cuttack.

All the team members were quarantined on the NDRF campus.

About 500 personnel of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and Odisha Fire Service had also gone to West Bengal for restoration work.

(With inputs from The Economic Times and IANS.)