NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea has tested positive for the coronavirus, officials said Friday.
"He's doing well," the NYPD tweeted Friday morning, adding that the commissioner is "in touch with his executive staff on a regular basis" as he runs the department remotely.
A spokesperson told 1010 WINS that Shea had been exposed to people who subsequently tested positive. He then felt under the weather, got tested and the test came back positive within the past 24 hours.
The spokesperson said Shea, 51, had mild symptoms, including a cough and a headache.
The commissioner is quarantining and conducting business from home, including holding virtual meetings with staff and keeping abreast of all workings of the department, the spokesperson said.
Shea is in touch with many people and travels to various locations, but he limits his security detail and staff, wears a mask and disinfects regularly, according to Richard Esposito, the NYPD's deputy commissioner for public information.
Esposito said nearly 700 people across the department are out sick with suspected COVID symptoms.
Shea is one of 463 members of the NYPD to test positive for the virus this month, according to ABC News.
Thousands of NYPD personnel have tested positive since the pandemic hit New York in March. Six detectives, a police officer and 40 civilian employees have died of the virus.
Former Transportation Chief William Morris died of COVID-19 in June. John Miller, the deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, was hospitalized with the disease in March and has returned to work.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
