COVID Purple Tier: Napa Police Ranks Thinned By Positive COVID Tests
NAPA (CBS SF) -- With new COVID cases are rising in the county, Napa Police Chief Robert Plummer says his department was examining the ways his officers interact with local residents after several tested positive for the virus.
In an interview the Napa Valley Register, Plummer said over the last four weeks "we had a bit of a bad run."
Plummer said three officers had already returned to work after undergoing a seven-to-10 day quarantine. Other shifts have been filled with officers working overtime.
"Thankfully, all the cases are mild. Thank God for that," Plummer told the newspaper.
Contact tracing had also been done with the infected officers and local residents who had close physical contact with them notified.
Plummer told the paper it was inevitable that some officers would eventually test positive for a virus that has been in the county for nine months.
"It's the amount of contact we have" with the public, he said.
Plummer said his department was considering implementing Zoom meetings in addition to traditional contacts with the public.
Napa County is currently in the state's most restrictive Purple Tier with 131 new cases reported on the health department's dashboard Thursday morning with 18 people being hospitalized.
Since the outbreak began in February, there have been 3,226 positive cases with 18 deaths.