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5 Buffalo Police officers test positive for coronavirus

According to the Buffalo Police union, two of those coronavirus cases are with officers in C-District that is located on the city's East Side.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — 2 On Your Side has learned that there are now five Buffalo Police officers have tested positive for coronavirus.

We have learned that at least two of those cases are within the same police district. According to the Buffalo Police union, two of those coronavirus cases are with officers in C-District that is located on the city's east side.

We have not been told where those two other cases are by either the department or the union.

With those two cases we have details of, the union says those officers have experienced symptoms of fever and sore throat and they are in isolation.

No details have been released on the fifth case. 

Buffalo Police say fewer than 10 other officers are in self-quarantine.

As for what the department is doing to try to protect officers, the department says it got about 60,000 gloves five days ago, and there are enough N95 masks for every patrol officer and that more are on order and so are goggles.

The department is also using hand sanitizer from the state and Buffalo Police say they are working with a local company to make more sanitizer.

"We absolutely have seen challenges. Thankfully, there seems to be an ample supply of gloves on the market, so we were able to get 60,000 gloves in a relatively quick period of time, the real challenge is the face mask... the N95 face mask," said Captain Jeff Rinaldo of Buffalo Police.

But, Rinaldo says there are a lot of challenges in getting supplies because of multiple shortages.

And, getting supplies will continue to be a challenge, because according to many NYS officials, coronavirus peak could just a few weeks away. 

We're also checking in on what other agencies are doing to try to keep first responders safe.

The president of the Amherst Chiefs Fire Association, Tim Oliver, says a lot of firefighters are now working from home and are responding to emergencies from there.

Because of the coronavirus, calls for service in the town are down.

Oliver says firefighters have gloves, surgical masks, gowns, and face shields to help protect themselves against the virus and that a lot of departments in Amherst already had these supplies in stock.

It's been reported that there's a shortage of face masks, but Amherst fire officials say they have been able to get them ordered and delivered and hand sanitizer is just an arms length away.

"What we'll do is we'll keep them on the responding trucks so on our rescue vehicles, and our chief's vehicles, we have hand sanitizer in there so if you do come in contact... you do go to a medical call, you can use the hand sanitizer right on scene," Oliver said.

The Erie County Sheriff's Office says it has provided masks, gloves, and cleaning supplies in each patrol vehicle and for the substations and work stations. Last week, the agency implemented staggered start times to minimize the number of deputies at a substation to reduce interaction among deputies. Two deputies within the Jail Management Division have tested positive for COVID-19.

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