Two KCPD staff members test positive for coronavirus, 16 others on quarantine
Two members of the Kansas City Police Department have tested positive for the new coronavirus and another 16 members are in quarantine, police announced Wednesday morning.
“We have enacted our procedures, including quarantining those who had direct contact with the members,” said Capt. David Jackson, a spokesman for the department.
“We are all aware that the key to reducing the spread of the virus is to limit further exposure,” Jackson said. “The members are home and we look forward to their return to work once the virus runs its course.”
Police did not say whether those who tested positive or those in quarantine were officers or civilian workers. Those placed on quarantine were chosen as a precaution. The number could change, Jackson said.
“We, in conjunction with the health department, will investigate if anyone was exposed to the members that tested positive,” Jackson said.
In Missouri, 1,327 people, including 119 in Kansas City, have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the latest statistics from state health officials.
Missouri has reported about three times as many coronavirus cases as has Kansas, but Missouri has also tested about three times as many people as Kansas.
People in both states have tested positive at a rate close to 8 percent.
Missouri’s population is also about twice as big as Kansas’, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 8:40 AM.
