NEW DELHI: In an effort to arrest the rising cases of coronavirus, the Indian Army on Friday launched “Operation Namastey” across the country.
Indian Army Chief Gen MM Naravane said, “It was his force’s duty to help the government in its fight against the pandemic. The Indian Army has code-named its anti-COVID-19 operations as ‘Operation Namaste’. So far, we have established eight quarantine facilities across the country.”
He also said that due to operational reasons, the Army has to live in close proximity and “to protect the country it is important for us to keep ourselves safe.”
“Keeping this in mind, we had issued two-three advisories in the last few weeks which should be followed,” he added.
Assuring the families of soldiers about their well-being, Gen Naravane said the soldiers are safe and asked the veer naaris and veterans to keep their morale high and if they face any difficulties they should approach the nearest Army camp.
As per the Union Health Ministry, as many as 724 positive cases of COVID-19 have been reported so far, including 47 foreign nationals.
On Thursday, the Army had issued fresh instructions reiterating enhanced measures to combat the COVID-19 outbreak.
“Measures will be taken to identify additional infrastructure for setting up quarantine/isolation centres in each station for own personnel,” the Indian Army had said in a release.
“Indian Army is prepared to extend its network of hospitals and laboratory facilities to assist civil administration at COVID-19 hotspots. There is a plan for sidestepping medical personnel from lesser affected areas to augment health experts in severely affected areas if required,” it added.
AGENCIES)