More than 6,000 NYPD cops — about 17 percent of the 36,000-member uniformed force — were out sick as of Tuesday as COVID-19 infections continue to soar across the country, police sources said.
Of that total, 3,000 cops had flu-like symptoms and more than 1,300 were diagnosed with COVID, the sources said.
The percentage out sick Tuesday is double the total from the same day last week.
Last Tuesday, nearly 8 percent of the NYPD’s workforce called out, The Post reported. Of the 2,712 members out, 342 were confirmed COVID-positive, sources said.
The NYPD typically has between 3 percent and 4 percent — from 1,400 to 1,500 cops — out sick on any given day. Those numbers, however, have been increasing during the pandemic, officials have said.
As a result, officers’ regular days off were nixed over the upcoming New Year’s weekend, according to an internal NYPD message sent Tuesday.
The memo informed cops that “RDO’s are cancelled for all uniformed members of service” from 12:01 a.m. Friday until 11:59 p.m. Saturday. The missive means officers will work all weekend regardless of their regular shifts.
“Patrol is particularly hard hit,” one high-ranking police source lamented. “Everyone in uniform and everyone working the three patrol shifts to ensure good coverage.”
The NYPD is also sending counterterrorism cops to two Staten Island precincts for patrol coverage because of staffing shortages caused by COVID-19, another police source said.
So far, over 1,800 cops tested positive for COVID-19 this month — the most since April 2020, sources said.
As of last week, 88 percent of all NYPD workers are fully vaccinated.
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