5 Toronto Police Members Have COVID-19 & More Than 500 Are Self-Isolating

New cases are still being discovered every day in the 6ix and even police forces are having to do something to prevent it from spreading. Five officers from the Toronto Police Service have contracted COVID-19 and more than 500 are currently in self-isolation, TPS has revealed. Many of those officers have returned from March Break and are being asked to stay home.

Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack has shared that about 500 members are currently in self-isolation.

“A lot of people were returning from March Break and they were asked to self-isolate and that’s what they’ve done,” said McCormack via CP24.

Although that self-isolation it not affecting frontline services too much due to widespread closures and lower crime rates in the city, it is still a stressful situation.

McCormack shares that TPS has had to remove some officers from the street.

“When we look at how many members we have that are in self-isolation right now, we have well over 500 and that is causing some stress as well because that’s taking officers off the street,” said McCormack via Global News.

Toronto Police also reports it has a total of five members, consisting of four officers and one other staff member, who have actually tested positive for COVID-19.

According to spokesperson Meaghan Gray, via CTV News, those five individuals consist of three employees at 14 Division, one from 23 Division, and one from headquarters.

“We have to look at how they contracted this disease, whether it was at work or wasn’t at work, so until we have all of that information we just don’t have a clear understanding of how they contracted the disease,” said McCormack.

CTV News states that the TPS has about 5,400 officers and 2,400 members. According to McCormack, those isolated are a combination of both.

As for other regions around Toronto, it's now known that a Peel Police officer has also tested positive for COVID-19 and has since self-isolated.

"They were already put into self-isolation, as we have a protocol in place with this illness. If anyone has symptoms or has had contact (with a COVID-19 patient), they're told to self-isolate right away," said Const. Danny Marttini via insauga.com.

According to that report, the officer in question was already in self-isolation before they were confirmed positive. Police do not believe the officer has posed a risk to anyone else, although they will stay away from work for the time being.

In this time of a global pandemic, health and safety really do come first.