Thousands of Polish police force infected with Covid-19

Over 15,000 police officers have been infected with Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to Poland’s Police Headquarters.

Along with the 15,238 infected officers, 2,535 police employees have also caught the virus. In total 14,806 officers and 2,437 employees have recovered.

"These figures show that the virus does not bypass the uniformed services, despite precautions,” said Inspector Mariusz Ciarka from Police Headquarters. “Unfortunately, the number of people infected is large."

Police information provided to PAP also shows that 432 police officers and 98 police employees are currently infected with the coronavirus.

Inspector Ciarka added that over 28,000 police officers have been in quarantine, with the current figure standing at around 500.

"Unfortunately, our forces are weakened by this, and our colleagues, taking on additional work because of those who are absent, are even busier than normal," said Ciarka.

Police statistics show that since the introduction of the state of epidemic, officers have conducted almost 46.6 million checks on people sent to quarantine.

"This is a huge number of checks and a very heavy burden for the police, while at the same time the Polish police must carry out other statutory tasks: we pursue perpetrators of crimes, we care for safety and provide assistance," said Ciarka.

He added that in just the last 24 hours, the police checked on 166,000 persons in quarantine, and in around 780 cases found infringements leading to legal consequences.

The police have also cautioned 215,266 people and issued 238,000 fines for failing to cover the mouth and nose. More than 37,000 cases have been sent to court.

On top of this the police have also inspected over 1 million retail outlets and over 5,260 places where club nights are organised. They have also checked over 12,600 wedding venues.