Duggan: 25 Detroit officers test positive, healthy officers working double shifts

Over two dozen Detroit police officers have tested positive for COVID-19 and hundreds are quarantined as their fellow officers pull double shifts to fill the gaps.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan announced Thursday that 25 officers have tested positive for the coronavirus and 398 officers are currently quarantined. 

Duggan said as Wayne State began testing first responders, they’ve been running “huge numbers” of officers through. When an officer tests positive, they send home anyone they’ve been around -- which is why almost 400 are quarantined at this time.

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“If you have had primary contact with someone who tests positive, we send you home for 14 days. We’re not taking any chances,” Duggan said. 

The mayor says the first wave of officers sent home, around 130, are coming back in the next few days. The second wave of officers is expected to return in another 10 days.

In the meantime, Duggan said officers are stepping up and into different roles to fill needs -- healthy officers are working double shifts.

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“People who haven't done patrol in a while are doing patrol ... The dedication of the men and women in this department is amazing,” he said.

The department has also instituted a policy starting Thursday that officers arriving for duty must have their temperature taken -- anyone over 100 degrees will be sent home. The mayor said no officers have been turned away for a fever so far.

“It’s the first encouraging sign we’ve seen in a while,” Duggan said.

Duggan said another 60-70 civilians in the department are also quarantined.

In addition, the department has noticed a 15-20 percent drop in 911 calls and a greater drop in crime in the three days since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued the call to stay at home.

“That has allowed us to continue to make very good 911 response times during this period,” Duggan said.