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237 Chicago Police Officers Test Positive For COVID-19; 8.2% Of Force Off Sick, Supt. Says

CHICAGO (CBS) -- There are now 237 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Chicago Police Department and just over 1,000 members called in sick Saturday, Interim Supt. Charlie Beck said at a press conference Saturday. That's about 8.2% of the force.

"As testing becomes more available, our count continues to climb," Beck said.

This was announced the same day CPD identified the second officer to die of COVID-19 as Sgt. Clifford Martin.

Beck said after Martin was identified to have contracted the virus precautions were taken to help prevent its spread.

"We did a cleaning of the work station, advised those who had come in contact with him to self monitor and if they got any symptoms whatsoever to stay at home," Beck said. "Per CDC and Department of Public Health advice we don't quarantine just on contact. You have to have symptoms or some really aggressive contact."

Beck also said that there are "tremendous concerns" of employees who are worried about the spread of the virus, and he denied claims that there is not enough personal protective equipment to go around.

"We have put out over 18,000 PPE kits. Last Saturday we put an additional 42,000 masks. We have hundreds of thousands of pairs of gloves. I think that people want some magic protection when there really is none," he said.

Beck said there is "sufficient PPE out there for the moment" but more will be needed as the pandemic progresses. He also noted that it will likely be difficult to get.

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"As for right now I feel confident that we have provided enough," he said. "We've had huge amounts of supplies delivered to our districts. I know that everybody would like to have a trunk full of masks. That's just not the reality. Nobody has that, nobody nationally. Even our medical personnel don't have that. But do we have enough that everybody has an adequate supply? Yes."

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot also fired back at claims of not enough personal protective equipment.

"My sense is, because this is an issue that we monitor on a daily basis, is that our first responders have the resources that they need to be able to do their job, and if they don't then they should contact Supt. Beck. But there is a difference between want and need."

Lightfoot also noted that the Chicago Department of Public Health has "pushed out literally millions of pieces of PPE" including to private hospitals that the Chicago Department of Public Health does not normally provide with equipment.

Beck has said, due to the coronavirus outbreak, as many officers as possible are working alone, but he noted parts of the city have too much violence for it to be safe to run one-officer cars exclusively. However, due to the pandemic, when officers are paired up, they are working with the same partner as often as possible to minimize the chances of spreading of the virus.

Last week, the CPD said it was shifting schedules at Public Safety Headquarters and the Bureau of Internal Affairs in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. A week ago Monday, sworn personnel assigned to headquarters, the Force Review Division, and the Bureau of Internal Affairs began working days, afternoons and midnights to reduce contact. This past Thursday, they also instituted a 4-2 schedule, meaning four days on and two days off.

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