More than 40 Alameda County Sheriff’s department employees have tested positive for COVID-19 since March, and two of the cases have been critical.
Avoiding the coronavirus can be hard for first responders, but Sergeant Ray Kelly told KCBS Radio that the department has personal protective equipment.
"We’re doing everything we can, we’re doing the social distancing, but you gotta remember our job," he said. "We’re working in close quarters with people, we sit in a car with a person a couple of feet away from us."Kelly added that dozens of deputies and administrative employees have tested positive since the pandemic began, but there currently are only ten active cases. Everyone else who contracted the disease has recovered.
The department has seen an increase in cases recently, and there is an outbreak at the Santa Rita Jail.
"The surges and spikes that we’ve seen are consistent with the surges and spikes we’ve seen in the community," he said. "The more people are out and about, the more people are being active, the more people are coming in close contact with each other, the more you see the virus spread."
A sheriff’s deputy and one other department employee have been hospitalized in critical condition with COVID-19.