El Paso police officer, sheriff’s deputy each quarantined after contracting virus

EL PASO, Texas — El Paso law enforcement agencies reported two cases of coronavirus within their ranks on Monday.

An El Paso city police officer and a county sheriff's deputy each have tested positive for the virus, officials annoucned.

An El Paso Police Department spokesman said the infected officer is believed to have contracted the virus while on-duty.

Other officers who came into contact with him were tested, but all came back negative for the virus, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, the El Paso County Sheriff's Office said indications were that their infected deputy contracted the virus from a family member who also tested positive.

The deputy was assigned to a support unit, sheriff's officials said, and was not responding to calls for service or conducting patrol stops.

Both the officer and the deputy were under home quarantines after being diagnosed with Covid-19, officials said.

The identities of the pair were not released.

There have now been three El Paso first-responders to contract the virus. A city firefighter who was the first to be diagnosed last month with it has since recovered and returned to duty.