A Los Angeles Police Department officer has tested positive for coronavirus after “coughing and sweating” on the job, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
The officer began to show symptoms following a vacation out of the country, sources told the paper. When the infected officer returned to work at the department’s Central Division station in downtown L.A., some co-workers expressed concerns.
Still, the officer “was allowed to work for at least two days” before being sent home last week, the paper said. It was not immediately clear if the officer stayed inside the police station or interacted with the public.
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The LAPD confirmed in a statement Saturday night on social media that an officer in the Central Division had just tested positive for coronavirus.
“The LAPD has identified a third employee who has a confirmed case of COVID-19. A uniformed officer assigned to our Central Division exhibited symptoms that were characteristic of the disease earlier this week, and was sent home when a Supervisor became aware,” the department tweeted.
The LAPD has identified a third employee who has a confirmed case of COVID-19. A uniformed officer assigned to our Central Division exhibited symptoms that were characteristic of the disease earlier this week, and was sent home when a Supervisor became aware.
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) March 22, 2020
The department has since “disinfected all of the individual’s work spaces and any common areas within Central Division,” the LAPD added in a second tweet. “We have also identified anyone who may have come in contact with the employee and directed them to a contract healthcare provider for evaluation.”
The two other LAPD employees who tested positive reportedly include a supervisor in the Pacific Division and a high-ranking employee described as a “member of the senior staff.”