128 Central cops in quarantine; division still covered, says police association

POLICE Social and Welfare Association (PSWA) president Gideon Dickson assured that police officers will continue to maintain law and order in the Central Division despite the challenge of having more than 100 police officers quarantined for a covid19 contact-tracing exercise.

Dickson told Newsday, three officers tested positive for covid19 and as a result 128 police officers, mostly from the Central Division, had been told to quarantine.

“From my understanding one of the officers went to operation meetings and so on, so that saw the spiralling in numbers,” Dixon said.

However, he said the PSWA was not worried. First of all, he said the quarantine was simply a precautionary measure as the officers have not yet shown any symptoms and secondly, he said the Central Division, being one of the larger divisions in the police service, had the “strength” to fill the gaps that the quarantined officers would leave.

“It gives us the opportunity to show our innovation and flexibility,” Dickson said. “The number of people in quarantine has proven a challenge, but we have managed to change rotations and use officers from other sections to fill the gaps. Despite the numbers the public is still being served and the level of crime reduction is still being maintained.”

National Security Minister Stuart Young said three officers in the central division tested positive resulting in the quarantine of 128 police officers and staff members in the Central Division.

At Saturday's Ministry of Health’s press conference, county medical officer Dr Jeannie St Bernard said there were 60 confirmed cases of covid19, which led to 900 primary, secondary and tertiary contacts being quarantined.

Outbreaks in the police service, bars and a church contributed to the surge, she said.

TT Barkeepers and Operators Association (BOATT) President Satesh Moonasar said their executive was expected to meet on Sunday, after which an official statement will be released.