Kona police officer becomes first member of force on Hawaii island to test positive for coronavirus
A Kona patrol officer has tested positive for COVID-19, the first confirmed case involving a sworn officer of the Hawaii Police Department.
The officer underwent testing April 16 and received the positive test results over the weekend, according to Assistant Chief Robert Wagner of the Kona Station.
The officer is on paid leave, in isolation at home and remains asymptomatic, Wagner said.
It’s not immediately known how the officer contracted the novel coronavirus. He has not been involved in any recent travel off-island.
Wagner said the Kona Station was thoroughly sanitized over the weekend and that more than 50 officers assigned to the station underwent testing Monday. All tests results came back negative.
Though the Kona patrol officer is the first sworn officer at the Police Department to test positive for COVID-19, he is the second employee. A clerk at Police Department headquarters in Hilo tested positive for coronavirus about a week ago, Wagner said. It’s unknown at this time how the employee contracted it.
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The Kona patrol officer is the first confirmed coronavirus case involving a police officer in the neighbor islands.
There are no confirmed coronavirus cases involving police officers in Maui County or Kauai County.
In Honolulu, three of 48 officers of the Honolulu Police Department tested positive for COVID-19. All three returned to work earlier this month after being cleared, according to a police spokeswoman. Forty-two police officers have tested negative, and test results for three officers are still pending.
