The coronavirus has continued to devastate the New York Police Department, with more than 1,400 members testing positive to COVID-19 and 17 percent of its uniformed force out sick, CNN reported on Wednesday.
Five members of the police force already have died from the coronavirus, according to NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea.
On Wednesday there were 6,172 officers who called in sick out of a total force of some 38,400.
Those unable to report to work were some 500 more than the day before, which, according to Shea , was already five times the usual number before the pandemic began, the Daily Mail reported.
The number of NYPD officers who have tested positive to the coronavirus has more than doubled in the past four days, and is expected to increase even further.