Waterloo Regional Police announced Thursday that six officers and five other employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began last March including one which was announced last weekend.
It says the list includes two officers from North Division in Waterloo, three from Central Division in Kitchener, one from investigative services as well as three members of the communications team and two members of court services.
In addition, a total of 34 members are currently off work for COVID-19-related reasons.
“It could include people that might be self-isolating if they may have potentially been exposed or anything like that,” police spokesperson Cherri Greeno said.
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She says the absences will not affect service to the community as the people are spread across all areas of the force.
Greeno does not believe members of the public should be concerned about exposure to the virus.
Since the pandemic began, 846 staff members have been high-risk contacts to the virus with 787 having been cleared.
“Since the beginning of this pandemic, our members have demonstrated their commitment to serve this community with the utmost professionalism,” Chief Bryan Larkin stated.
“It is clear that COVID-19 continues to cause significant health concerns within the community and we encourage everyone to follow all guidelines set out by Public Health to ensure we stop the spread of this virus.”
Police say they have been working closely with Waterloo Public Health to ensure proper contact tracing.
“At this point, we’re not aware of any concerns for public safety but we are continuing to work with public health, not only for contact tracing for members of the public, but where our members may have been and contracted the virus,” Greeno said.
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