POLICE officers need to continue to adhere to rules and wear PPE, for their colleagues and the public as well as themselves, South Yorkshire Police Federation has said.<\/p>\n
New figures have revealed that more than 800 UK police officers have tested positive for COVID-19 this year.<\/p>\n
Chairman Steve Kent said: \u201cThe force has been absolutely clear about the expectations and the guidelines in terms of officers working together more often in pairs, officers wearing face masks in cars.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever people\u2019s personal opinions on the way the crisis unfolds, they need to apply common sense and adhere to the rules for their colleagues as well as themselves, for the whole big picture.<\/p>\n
\u201cThankfully, we\u2019ve not seen as many officers falling as ill as we\u2019d anticipated. There\u2019s not been many occasions of officers being gravely ill, which is a massive relief. But that doesn\u2019t allow us to be complacent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to carry on until everybody\u2019s been vaccinated, just carry on doing these simple measures. And I think muscle memory is setting in when it comes to wearing masks.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cWell done to the officers. They\u2019re doing a great job of adopting the measures and keeping themselves safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
The figures gathered in a Freedom of Information request by The Press Association show that 849 officers have been infected with COVID-19. However, nearly half of UK forces \u2013 including the Met \u2013 did not reply so the real numbers are likely to be far higher.<\/p>\n
Nationally, several police officers have been severely ill and in comas due to COVID, and a small number have died after catching the virus.<\/p>\n
The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW) said that more officers would have become ill if it hadn\u2019t campaigned so effectively for adequate PPE.<\/p>\n