The NYPD has lost its 64th member of service to COVID-19, a memo from the police commissioner's office said in announcing the death of a 15-year department veteran, officer Daniel Sanchez.
Sanchez, most recently assigned to highway unit #5, succumbed to a COVID-related illness early Wednesday at Richmond University Medical Center, where he had been undergoing treatment, the commissioner's memo said.
He was initially admitted shortly before Thanksgiving to a different hospital in his home borough, Staten Island University North, and was just moved to a rehab facility six days ago before he was transferred to the Richmond facility.
Sanchez first joined the NYPD in January 2007 and had been assigned to highway patrol since 2015. The officer leaves behind a wife and a home on the south shore.
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To date, New York City has reported more than 37,100 COVID deaths since the start of the pandemic, with Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx all ranking within the top 10 counties in terms of loss, according to Johns Hopkins data. The true count may never be known, given limitations in that regard early in the crisis, especially.
Nationally, almost 860,000 lives have been lost, Johns Hopkins data shows.
