coronavirus

Miami Police Chief Talks About Battle With Coronavirus

Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina has been home in quarantine and says he’s feeling better on the road to recovery. 

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City of Miami Police Chief Jorge Colina usually reports to police headquarters in Downtown Miami, but he’s been at home instead. The city’s top cop has been in quarantine since testing positive for COVID-19

“It was a light cough, and I thought, well you know, let me go home,” Colina said.

Colina says it started with a simple cough last Thursday, but then his symptoms worsened. 

“By Friday morning, I had a bad headache, I had a stomach ache and I already had a fever,” he said.

After he got tested and found out he was positive, Colina has been home in quarantine and says he’s feeling better on the road to recovery. 

The police chief also touched on what his officers have been doing to keep themselves safe, including a combination of social distancing and protective gear. 

“We’ve been very, very aggressive in how we treat our policemen in terms of anybody with symptoms. Anybody with a fever, we send them home. Right now we’ve had 20 police officers that have tested positive since the beginning, two civilian employees,” Colina said.

Nine of those officers who tested positive have since been cleared to return to work. Of the department’s nearly 1,800 employees, 39 officers are currently quarantined at home as a precaution. 

The chief also said he’s hoping any plans from the city to slowly reopen should be responsible with advice from the medical community on how to proceed. He mentioned how his officers plan to enforce social distancing measures at parks and public places during this time. 

“You can actually arrest someone if they’re not complying and you can certainly cite them as well, but we’re not doing that. We’re basically warning people and having people move along and spread out. So we’re not taking that action. It’s really more about educating people,” Colina said.

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