MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Peru: 170 police officers have died of Covid 19 and 10,000 have been infected

“We have 9,900 infected personnel and 170 deceased personnel. That is the figure that we currently have,” Interior Minister General Gaston Rodriguez said

At least 170 police officers in Peru have died after contracting the coronavirus while enforcing the South American nation's pandemic lockdown, the interior minister said on Thursday.

Almost 10,000 officers have been infected with the disease as they enforced social distancing measures during Peru's 12 weeks of stay-at-home orders.

“We have 9,900 infected personnel and 170 deceased personnel. That is the figure that we currently have despite the efforts being made,” Interior Minister General Gaston Rodriguez told reporters.

A further 4,000 police personnel, deemed vulnerable for reasons of age and health, were complying with mandatory quarantine, he said.

Among those infected, at least 1,000 were asymptomatic, police said.

According to the interior ministry, some 80,000 police officers are providing security in the country to enforce the country's mandatory confinement measures.

Peru is the second worst-hit country in Latin America after Brazil, with more than 208,000 cases and 6,000 deaths. Most of the police cases occurred in the capital Lima, which is home to more than half the country's infections.

The vast majority of police infections occurred when officers patrolled markets and streets to ensure people were observing social distancing measures to avoid spreading the virus.