Covid-19: Norfolk Police vaccine plea as 140 staff members off work

Norfolk Police said 90 officers and 50 other members of staff were off work earlier this week due to Covid-19

A police force has been without 140 members of staff due to a "worrying uptick" in Covid-related absence.

Norfolk Police faced a "challenge" in the control room this week with 90 officers and 50 staff off work, Chief Constable Simon Bailey said.

Federation chairman Andy Symonds said officers should be a priority in the next phase of the Covid-19 vaccine roll-out.

"There is a risk that we can't police to the level we are," he said.

"We have seen a worrying uptick in the amount of officers that we have had off in the last week, and that mirrors what's going on around the country with this more virulent strain."

'Further up the queue'

Mr Symonds said 90 officers being off was a "marked increase" on the previous week and the "worst spell" of absence for the force since the pandemic began.

One person had tested positive in the control room, with officers and staff required to self-isolate as a result.

"It's really important that if we have that resilience we are further up the queue in the next phase [of the vaccine roll-out], rather than in the mix with the over-50s," he added.

"There is a risk that we become super-spreaders, unknowingly, because we go into people's home, we get close to people to arrest them, and we have police crossing borders."

Norfolk Chief Constable Simon Bailey said the force had performed very well in the face of officer and staff absence

Norfolk Police employs 1,490 officers and Mr Bailey said the sickness rate stood at "6 to 7%", but the force was planning for almost 20% of the workforce to be absent.

Officers carrying out non-essential work, including school safety, had been redeployed.

"We are having to deal with people that are becoming very very poorly indeed, we are all concerned about family members and loved ones," said Mr Bailey.

"We have faced the challenge earlier this week in the control room, and the performance in the last 24 hours has been very good.

"We are very well versed in dealing with crisis and the constabulary will continue to provide a service our communities come to expect and deserve."

He added that there was an "ongoing dialogue with ministers" about the vaccine.