Post Date: 03/29/2020 4:00 PM

The employee notified Police Chief Tracy on Saturday of the test result; the employee has not been at work since March 15 and is home in self-isolation

Mayor Mike Purzycki announced today that a Wilmington Police Officer is the third City employee to test positive for the coronavirus. The officer, who has not been at work at police headquarters on Walnut Street since March 15 and is home in self-isolation, informed Chief Robert J. Tracy on Saturday of the test result.



The Mayor said after the Police Chief learned of the positive test, he and staff retraced the officer's movements more than two weeks ago within police headquarters to determine if other officers or civilian staff could have been affected. The Chief consulted with City Human Resources and with State Public Health and was advised that no special cleaning or decontamination was needed within the building. The officer who tested positive did not have duties that took him outside police headquarters to interact with the public.



As an extra precaution, Mayor Purzycki said the City is deep cleaning the area where the officer worked with virus-killing materials, the same process that was used in the past week or so to protect employees and the public at the Redding Government Building on French Street and at the Municipal Complex on Wilmington Avenue.



Chief Tracy issued a memo to department staff Saturday night to inform them of the officer’s positive test for Covid-19 and to remind and reassure staff of the cleaning and disinfecting steps that are being taken daily to protect staff within the police headquarters and officers who work outside the building.



Mayor Purzycki said the City will continue to act swiftly to protect its employees and the public as the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic evolves and as the world health crisis continues to affect the City, state, region, and nation.

COMMUNITY AND MEDIA INQUIRIES :

John Rago

Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Communications

Mobile: (302) 420-7928

Email: jrago@WilmingtonDE.gov