Joseph Ostapiuk
Staten Island Advance
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The NYPD said on Tuesday that 1,048 uniformed members and 145 civilian members of the department have tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19) — which accounts for 15.6% of its workforce.
The latest number of positive tests is an increase of 263 total members of the NYPD since a day ago, when 930 total individuals within the department tested positive, the Advance/SiLive.com reported.
The number of uniformed employees on sick report within the NYPD rose from 5,199 approximately 24 hours ago to 5,647 on Tuesday, the NYPD said, rising from 14.4% to 15.6% of the uniformed workforce.
During a live Q&A on Tuesday, Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said the department is not yet shifting to 12-hour tours of duty over concerns of a diminished workforce, saying, “Are we going to 12-hour tours? Not yet. We have the reserves, we have the contingency plans,” adding, “If we have to, we’ll do it.”
Shea warned that the percentage of NYPD members out sick was likely to rise, but said, “we also have stories of great things going on. We have people coming back to work, we have people coming back to work after testing positive for COVID.”
“We’re going to get through this,” Shea said. “We’re going to get through it together.”
Yesterday, the NYPD announced the death of School Safety Agent Sabrina Jefferson, who died on Sunday from complications from the coronavirus. She was assigned to Patrol Borough Queens South School Safety and became a member of the NYPD on Feb. 9, 1994.
The department also announced the death of Senior Police Administrative Aide Gwendolyn King, who was assigned to Police Service Area #3 in Brooklyn. King, who died on Monday, became a member of the NYPD on July 25, 1994.
Detective Cedric Dixon and NYPD employees Dennis Dickson and Giacomina Barr-Brown also died as a result of the virus, the Advance/SiLive.com reported — bringing the NYPD’s total number of coronavirus deaths to five.