In a bid to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Indian Army has issued an advisory warning the troops against concealing symptoms and information related to the pandemic.
"Non-disclosure of the information related to COVID-19 is likely to put other troops in harm and this act of not disclosing information will be treated as wilful concealment and it will be dealt with as a breach of discipline under the Army Act," the advisory said.
The advisory made it clear that it is obligatory for all ranks to disclose any of the conditions immediately to superiors during rollcall and while screening by the medical authorities.
The information, which the troops are required to give, include symptoms of cough, throat pain, fever, difficulty in breathing and contact with any COVID-19 patient or relative or friend while being on leave or temporary duty. The troops are also required to reveal any travel history to be identified COVID-19 hotspots by the government of India.
The advisory also mentioned that the COVID-19 has spread to all parts of the country and the troops and their families are at risk of getting infected. In most people, the infection will be passed off as mild illness, however, it has the potential to cause severe respiratory illness.
The Army has been making a lot of efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 amongst its rank and file and has also issued multiple advisories to deal with it.
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So far, there have been only three cases of COVID-19 in the 1.3 million-strong force including a jawan in Ladakh, who might have been infected by his father. The jawan's father had recently returned from an Islamic pilgrimage site in Iran.
The other two include a doctor in Eastern Command Kolkata while the third person is a Junior Commissioned Officer in Dehradun.
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