Lawrence police officer diagnosed with new coronavirus

A Lawrence police officer has been diagnosed as having COVID-19, the Lawrence Police Department reported Friday.

In a Facebook post, Lawrence police said the officer was last on duty Monday and started experiencing symptoms Tuesday night.

The officer, who is in isolation, is experiencing mild symptoms and not required to be hospitalized, the post says. The officer is roughly the 15th person in Douglas County to be diagnosed with the new coronavirus.

“Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health is reviewing any close contacts the officer may have had and will be monitoring them for the development of symptoms,” the post says. “The officer has not traveled recently, and has not had contact with any known carriers of the virus, so the point of infection is unknown at this time.”

The announcement comes the same day confirmed coronavirus cases in Kansas topped 200. The number of cases is expected to peak in Kansas around April 24, Kansas Department of Health and Environment Secretary Lee Norman said Friday. That date is based on a forecast by University of Washington researchers, he said.

Contributing: Dion Lefler and Chance Swaim of The Eagle

This story was originally published March 27, 2020 at 6:48 PM.