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NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea Tells Police Force To Wear Masks As More Officers Call Out Sick

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea is getting concerned as an increasing number of police officers call out sick.

Though the increase was expected, Shea is reminding cops to take precautions and wear masks, CBS2's Alice Gainer reported Thursday.

A memorial at St. Patrick's Cathedral earlier in the week honored the 46 members of the NYPD who died of complications from COVID-19.

But, there are still concerns.

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Commissioner Shea addressed the force in a video message.

"Ordinarily, we're at about 3.2% sick. We've seen that number grow the last week," said Shea. "It's not totally unexpected. Everything that we've heard was about a resurgence - the flu season and things of that nature. So, this is somewhat expected."

MORE: NYPD Threatens Disciplinary Action For Officers Who Don't Wear Face Masks

Shea said the NYPD had about 42 uniformed and civilian members out sick from COVID-19 every month in July, August and September.

"In the first six days of this month, we have 36 people out sick. So, we are seeing an uptick. Where are we seeing it? We're seeing it spread through the city and we're doing contact tracing and trying to, through testing and common sense standards, push it back down," said Shea.

According to Shea, the 48th Precinct and Detective Squad have five members out with COVID-19. The 71st Precinct in Brooklyn has four members. A few other precincts have one, two and three members out.

RELATED STORY: NYPD Honors 46 Members Lost To COVID-Related Deaths

"We don't want those ones and twos to spread to fives and sixes and eights and have a repeat of what we had in March. So, double down on safety precautions... Be a good partner and tell your partner to throw a mask on," said Shea.

When it comes to the FDNY, it reported about 11 coronavirus-related deaths. A spokesperson for the department said medical leave has held at the same low rates for quite some time.

COVID-19 sick leave has been at or under 3% for fire and EMS workers for weeks now.

Commissioner Shea said the NYPD expects a busy month ahead with potentially more protests, Halloween and Election Day.

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