NYPD 1st Precinct officer tests positive for coronavirus, as 31 others in same station call out sick

Fourth NYPD cop tests positive for coronavirus as 17 fellow officers at his Manhattan station go into isolation and another 14 call out sick

  • NYPD officials confirmed a 1st Precinct officer tested positive for coronavirus 
  • Sources said that 31 officers from the precinct in Manhattan, New York, have called out sick recently 
  • Of those, 17 are in isolation after suffering flu-like symptoms
  • Officials said those officers are being ‘monitored’ but have not been tested yet
  • The officer who tested positive is now the fourth confirmed case in the NYPD 
  • Coronavirus symptoms: what are they and should you see a doctor?

An NYPD officer in New York City’s Lower Manhattan has tested positive for coronavirus, while 31 others at the precinct have called out sick. 

He is the fourth NYPD officer to test positive for the virus since the pandemic began. 

The latest case was from the city’s 1st Precinct. Another 31 officers that have called out sick – including the precinct’s commanding officer and executive officer.

Of those, 17 have complained of having flu-like symptoms and are self-quaranting.

The police officer who tested positive for coronavirus works at the NYPD’s 1st Precinct (shown), in Lower Manhattan. Thirty-one others from the station have called out sick recently

Officials have said that the officers are being ‘monitored’ but have not yet been tested for the virus.  

All told, 17 per cent of the 1st Precinct’s staff is currently out sick – a number officials called ‘a very large percent of the precinct.’

The precinct, however, remains open at this time as officials are investigating to see if the officer who tested positive contracted the virus while on duty, CBS 2 reported. 

To combat any staffing shortages in the future, the precinct said that it does have a contingency plan. 

Sources told CBS 2 that the department would institute mandatory 12-hour shifts – similar to tactics used after 9/11. 

NYC now has 923 confirmed coronavirus cases. The are 6578 confirmed cases across the US

Among the tactics police officers are being asked to use to stay safe are to avoid having unnecessary staffing at crime scenes and, in the event of non-emergency calls, asking people to exit their homes and talk on the street instead of entering homes, NY1 reported.  

The 1st Precinct officer, who has not been named, is now the fourth NYPD officer to have been publicly confirmed as having tested positive for coronavirus. 

The other who have the virus are NYPD Transit Bureau Chief Edward Delatorre, Deputy Commissioner for Employee Relations Robert Ganley and a Queens School Safety Agent.  

The NYPD has 36,000 officers and almost 20,000 civilian employees. 

Despite NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio warning Tuesday that city denizens should be prepared to shelter-in-place within the coming days, New York State governor Andrew Cuomo said that the city will not be going into lockdown. 

During a press conference Wednesday, Cuomo said that ‘The fear, the panic is a bigger problem than the virus.’

Cuomo also said ‘I don’t believe any policy works unless the geographic footprint is large enough. It can’t just be New York City.

‘Also shelter in place, you close down your health care system, you close down your food system, you close down your transportation system . And you close down businesses. That doesn’t make sense to me because people need to eat travel etc.’

A statement posted on the New York State’s website noted that ‘Any blanket quarantine or shelter in place policy would require State action and as the Governor has said, there is no consideration of that for any locality at this time.’ 

Despite Cuomo’s latest statement, de Blasio said that he intends to continuing discussing the idea of locking down the city with the governor. 

As of Wednesday morning, 2,382 people had tested positive in New York State, up more than 800 since Tuesday. 

In New York City cases went up from 814 on Tuesday to 1,339 people testing positive by Wednesday. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk