Three Additional Middletown Cops Test Positive For COVID-19

Three additional Middletown police officers have tested positive for COVID-19.

The names of the officers were not released, but Chief of Police Joseph Bartorilla said the officers were at home recovering.

“We have a couple more officers who have symptoms who are quarantined and we are awaiting test results on, but we can’t say for sure until we get the results. We have several with no symptoms but who have had close contact with our positive officers, so as a precaution for our safety and the public’s safety we are also quarantining and testing them before allowing them back to work,” the chief told LevittownNow.com.

Bucks County officials were not willing to name the agencies where emergency responders who had COVID-19 worked, but Health Director Dr. David Damsker said there were several responders and medical professionals who have the virus.

Since Middletown Officer Ryan Morrison was diagnosed with COVID-19 earlier in March, Bartorilla said the department has been “strict about quarantining and testing officers.” He said the department’s goal is to be proactive to avoid the “massive problem” of having enough officers testing positive that it impacts public safety.

Bartorilla said the department’s strategy to “immediately removing from duty and quarantining officers who have had close contact with positive cases and getting them tested before allowing them to return to work.”

The chief praised his officers who have stepped forward to fill shifts and keep protection around the clock.

“We’re getting a little beat up and worn down but we can see the light at the end of the tunnel and we will work through this,” he said.

Morrison, who has since spoke out about his COVID-19 case, has not yet returned to work and will have to be cleared by Damsker and the county health department.

While county officials initially said Morrison may have caught COVID-19 while off-duty, Bartorilla said the answer was not yet clear.

“I am considering it a workplace exposure due to him being a first responder and with the risk being so high for us,” Bartorilla said.

In the case that COVID-19 impacts a police department to a level where they would have trouble staffing shifts, the Bucks County Police Chiefs Association has a mutual aid agreement between agencies. The agreement permits municipal departments to operate in towns outside their jurisdiction if required if there is manpower shortages, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office has previously stated.

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