Chief Craig said that when he first got sick, he thought it was seasonal allergies. But soon, fever, chills, a loss of appetite and lethargy knocked him out of commission for
An avid weight lifter, he tried to keep it up throughout his quarantine — with his doctors and family taking a dim view of his efforts. He said he can still only press half as many weights on his home lifting machine as he could previously.
Things in the department have started to improve in recent days. The development of a 15-minute diagnostic test allowed more than 700 quarantined employees to return to work after they tested negative, Chief Craig said. But more than 300 remain isolated.
For many people in the department, the loss of Capt. Jonathan Parnell, 50, the city’s head of homicide and a 31-year veteran, was one of the biggest blows. He began feeling sick on March 18, a Wednesday, although the diagnosis was not confirmed right away.
On Friday, fellow officers were surprised when the captain — known to be the last to leave any surveillance job — said he wanted to go home to lie down.
Over the weekend, he had such trouble breathing that he started communicating only by text message, said his son, Jonathan Parnell II. Then late Tuesday, Captain Parnell walked into the bathroom, closed the door, collapsed and died.
The speed with which the disease struck him down left his son in shock. “I thought he was invincible,” Mr. Parnell said.
John Eligon reported from Detroit and Neil MacFarquhar from New York.
