radhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Five law enforcement officers from the Moruga police station are in self-quarantine after a police constable came into contact with a COVID-19 case, a source revealed yesterday.
However the station has not been shut down and up to Monday morning, people were coming to make reports.
The constable reportedly went to the station on Friday and turned in his gun. He did not tell any of his colleagues that he had come into contact with a positive COVID-19 case. The source said the COVID-19 victim had been at the officer’s house and they interacted for some time.
On Saturday, 13 officers, three soldiers and two Coast Guard officers were informed that the officer had come into contact with the COVID-19 patient and was due to be tested.
The 13 police officers went home when the shift changed but the other law enforcement officers from the Regiment and Coast Guard were mandated to stay in the station in self-quarantine. They were awaiting tests up to Monday.
The Moruga station was shut down for five hours on Sunday as extensive sanitation took place and it was reopened sometime later.
The source said a Ministry of Health official informed the officers that they were not deemed high risk because they were not in direct contact with the police constable. However, the T&T Regiment informed the soldiers that they should stay in the station pending COVID-19 tests.
The lawmen are involved in borderline patrols along the Moruga coast where illegal immigrants often enter. There are numerous points of entry along the southern, southwestern and western coasts where illegal immigrants have been landing despite an increase in sea patrols by the T&T Coast Guard.
Meanwhile, the T&T Police Service confirmed that two police officers had tested positive for COVID-19.
In a statement, the TTPS said Commissioner of Police, Gary Griffith, had tested negative for the COVID-19 virus.
The test had been done over the weekend, days after the CoP held a meeting with someone who was a secondary contact of another person suspected of being positive for COVID-19.
Griffith said the TTPS had been the frontline State agency since the COVID-19 pandemic worsened in March 2020.
“This just shows how susceptible the TTPS is due to the mandatory interaction with the public. Since the closure of our borders and the enforcement of the Public Health Ordinance Regulations in March, the men and women of the TTPS have been out there enduring that members of the public adhere to the rules.
Within the past ten days, the TTPS had to temporarily close the Police Administration Building, the Old Police Headquarters, Riverside Plaza, and the Moruga and Barrackpore Police Stations, for sanitization after persons tested positive for COVID-19.