Over 100 Detroit Emergency Responders Test Positive for COVID-19
Hundreds of emergency responders have been placed in quarantine for potential exposure to the novel coronavirus, as Detroit police and fire see deaths due to the disease.
Franklin Williams, a 31-year veteran Fire Captain, died this week from complications of COVID-19.
He was one of more than a hundred emergency responders in Detroit to have tested positive for the disease, according to the city.
In past weeks, hundreds more emergency responders have been placed on quarantine for potential exposure, including nearly a fifth of the police force.
Assistant Police Chief James White, whose leading day-to-day operations of the force after Chief James Craig tested positive, says over 400 officers have returned to work.
“We’re encouraged that we’re going to get a large number of officers back routinely,” White. said. “The officers are eager to get back to work.”
White says a commanding police officer also died due to COVID-19. Police reported the first death of an employee from COVID-19, a 911 dispatcher, on March 23.
Williams is survived by his wife and his seven children.
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