Vancouver police are dealing with five confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the department.
Spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison confirmed Thursday that an additional 27 people were isolating due to possible exposure.
Three of the cases were at the department’s Gravely Street office in East Vancouver, while two were at different locations, Addison said.
Vancouver Coastal Health said it had not declared an outbreak at the site.
WorkSafeBC said it was inspecting the site.
“The purpose of the inspection would be to ensure a COVID safety plan is in place and being implemented, and also to ensure any gaps in risk mitigation are addressed,” a spokesperson said.
Despite being down 32 staff, Addison said the impact was minimal in an organization of more than 1,300 members.
“The short answer is, it’s not going to affect our ability to provide high-level essential services to the citizens of Vancouver,” Addison said.
“These people work in various sections of the Vancouver Police Department, so the impact on our day to day activities and our ability to provide service to the public is going to be minimal.”
Addison couldn’t say how the members had contracted the virus, but said the department had done “extensive” contact tracing, following the positive tests.
He sad it also follows strict COVID-19 guidelines, including masks, sanitizer and physical distancing, given the nature of police work.
“We don’t have the luxury of being able to work from home, we’re front-line essential service workers,” Addison said.
With the new cases, Addison said the VPD has recorded 29 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.
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