Itanagar, Jul 24 (PTI) The Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to adopt a revised standard operating procedure (SoP) for COVID-19 screening of Army, paramilitary forces, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Border Roads Organisation (BRO) personnel.

As per the revised SoP, the forces will have their own quarantine facilities and rapid antigen tests of all the returnees will be conducted as per the protocol developed by the state health department and Indian Council of Medical Research (IMCR), an official communiqu said.

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The decision was taken during a virtual meeting convened by Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Friday to discuss COVID-19 management for Army and paramilitary forces in the state, the communiqu said.

The forces will appoint nodal officers for Arunachal Pradesh for an on-ground coordination with the Commissioner (Home) who is the nodal officer from the state government.

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District level nodal officers will also be appointed for the purpose, it said.

The state government has assured them of support for conducting tests of all the personnel of the forces who have returned to the state.

It will also provide training to the medical team of the forces, the communiqu said.

Attended a meeting today through VC with the Army & Central Armed Police Forces for improved coordination in fighting #COVID19 in the state. Health of our Jawans is paramount as security of our borders cant be compromised. Thanks to Army & Central Forces for their cooperation," Khandu later tweeted.

The meeting was attended by Health Minister Alo Libang, Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, Commander 3 Corp, Commander 4 Corp, DG NDRF, ADG ITBP, ADG BRO, IG, CRPF and senior officers of the state government and Assam Rifles, the communiqu said.

There are 654 active cases of COVID-19 while 334 people have recovered and three died of the infection so far in the state.

Over 200 personnel of the armed forces, including the Army, Assam Rifles, Border Road Task Force (BRTF), National Disaster Response force (NDRF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITPB) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were infected with the virus in the state. The ITBP reported 54 cases, followed by NDRF with 53, Army with 36, CRPF with 32, BRTF with 16 and the Assam Rifles with two cases in the northeastern state. A total of 31 coronavirus positive cases were also reported among the personnel of the state police.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)