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She is a constable from Corozal, who is hospitalized. At a press conference held this morning, Commissioner Chester Williams discussed this case, and what it means for the department, now that one of its own has been infected. Here are those comments:

Chester Williams - Commissioner of Police
"It is indeed true, an officer in the Corozal area tested positive over the weekend for COVID-19. It is a female officer, and the Ministry of Health is in the process of doing the contact tracing. Yesterday, we did the sanitation of the Corozal Police Station. A number of officers who came into close contact with the infected officer have also done their swabbing, and we're hoping that either today or tomorrow, we'll be getting the results from that swabbing. And as a police department, yes, it is a cause for concern us. We would hope that none of our officers would contract the virus, but we understand that we're living in a country where we're still seeing irresponsible people, border jumpers, coming in the country. And the police have to interact with them. And so, it comes with being a police officer. The good thing is that the officer is on her way to recovery. Her prognosis is good at this time. We believe that in the next few days, she should be out of the hospital."

Reporter
"Is there going to be any sort of, I guess, protocol changes or enforcement for your officers in terms of them always having their PPE's when they're on the frontlines, trying to deal with border jumpers?"

Chester Williams
"Well, our protocol is good. It just needs to be fully enforced. You would know that as much as we having been speaking with our officers, and we put out our protocols in writing, that a number of them continue to operate in such a way that they are not adhering to the protocols. For example, we continue to get information that officers are seen in the public on duty, not wearing a face mask, as they should. I personally have encountered officers who, on a checkpoint, still take possession of a person's licenses, even though we have said to them, do not hold it in a position that you can read. So, it's a matter for the officers to ensure that they follow the protocol that we have in place."

On Wednesday, the Commissioner and his team will be going to the northern border to deliver additional PPE's to officers in Corozal.

He has also announced that he will be increasing law enforcement presence with an additional police mobile, which will be placed near San Victor Village and its surrounding communities. The hope is that this additional presence will allow the officers to catch smugglers who continue to sneak across the border.