Four soldier craftsmen undergoing training at the Military Station in Vadodara have tested positive for coronavirus, officials said on Friday.
This is the first instance in Gujarat where members of the armed forces have been found to be infected with coronavirus, which has claimed over 100 lives in the state so far.
These trainee soldiers were admitted to government-run SSG Hospital in Vadodara, over 100 km from here, after their medical reports came positive for COVID-19 two days back, said a statement issued by defence PRO for Gujarat, Puneet Chadha.
"Four soldier craftsmen undergoing training at the Military Station in Baroda (Vadodara) tested COVID-19 positive on April 22.
"All protocols were followed and necessary actions taken by the Army authorities. All four jawans have been admitted to SSG Hospital," the statement said, adding that the military station premises was sanitised by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation after the first three cases emerged.
The report of one trainee soldier came later, it said.
As many as 40 persons, who came into contact with these jawans, were home quarantined as a precautionary measure.
According to VMC officials, these trainee soldiers are from other states and came to Vadodara for training well before the lockdown was imposed last month.
Vadodara Municipal Commissioner N B Upadhyay refuted the theory that they might have contracted the virus at a nearby ATM centre.
"We find no substance in that theory. If ATM was the culprit, then we may have received many more cases, which is not the case at present," said Upadhyay.
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