Nearly 17% of the NYPD’s 36,000 uniformed force – about 6,000 cops – are out of service due to sickness as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 causes infections to soar across New York City and the country.

Of the 6,000 or so cops who are out sick, approximately 3,000 had flu-like symptoms and more than 1,300 were diagnosed with Covid, the New York Post reported.

The staggering number of police officers out sick is more than double the number who were out due to illness just a week ago.

The NYPD typically has between 3% and 4% of officers out sick on any given day, the Post reported, but those numbers have been increasing during the pandemic.

As a result of many officers being out sick, some officers have had their vacation time nixed over the upcoming New Year’s weekend.

Additionally, the NYPD is sending counterterrorism units to two Staten Island precincts for patrol coverage because of staffing shortages caused by Covid-19, the Post reports.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)