1,400 NYPD Members Test Positive for Coronavirus, Thousands More Out Sick
In New York City, the United States epicenter of the coronavirus, 1,400 members of the New York City Police Department have tested positive for COVID-19.
New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea confirmed that roughly 17 percent of the department, 6,172 employees, are also out sick, CNN reported.
“We are scrambling, but that shouldn’t have a negative connotation,” Shea told CNN’s Jim Sciutto.
“We are able to handle many, many different tasks here. We’re still fighting crime.”
Shea said the department is in a “constant state of planning.”
“Right now, we’re in a good shape in New York City,” he added. “But the bottom line is anyone that can help will be asked upon to help to keep people safe.”
More than 1,400 NYPD officers have tested positive for coronavirus and 17% of the force is out sick, per a law enforcement source.
“The mantra here is next woman, next man up,” Commissioner Dermot Shea tells @JimSciutto.
“We’ve had people return [from coronavirus]… to help.” pic.twitter.com/CeitHhFniG
— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) April 1, 2020
On Monday, Shea appeared on Fox News’ “The Story” to discuss the coronavirus deaths of a uniformed officer and four civilian members.
“Five members of the family. It’s a very difficult time for the members of the New York City Police Department,” he said.
“Any time we lose someone, it’s difficult. This is a very surreal feeling. We pride ourselves in taking care of our family and we’re in a situation right now where we don’t even really have time to mourn. It’s every man and every woman stepping in and trying to get a mission done.”
He added, “And we will mourn, but it won’t be today. There is just too much work to do.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday the death toll in New York has reached 1,941, ABC News reported.
Over 83,000 people have also tested positive for COVID-19 in the state and 12,000 of those have been hospitalized.
“Anyone can get this disease. Relatively young people, strong people, people who take a lot of vitamin pills, people who go to the gym a lot,” Cuomo said. “There is no superhero who is immune.”
He also presented a model that projects about 16,000 New Yorkers will die from coronavirus before the pandemic is over, according to the New York Daily News.
“We’re still looking for the curve to straighten, we’re still looking at where we see a plateau,” Cuomo said. “The line is still going up.”
Shea told CNN that “it’s been clearly a difficult time for New York City as a whole. The message is to all New Yorkers that we’re all in this together.”
Although previous messaging has said that older people are at the highest risk of contracting the coronavirus, data suggests that younger people are still at some risk, too.
According to Dr. Mike Ryan, the World Health Organization’s emergencies chief, 10 to 15 percent of people under 50 with COVID-19 have “moderate to severe infection,” ABC News reported.
“So many patients are not fitting the picture that we’ve been told from China or Italy. This is not just elderly patients; it’s anyone,” doctor Kaedrea Jackson told Bloomberg.
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