Ald. Matt O’Shea, 19th Ward, is calling for greater protections for police officers amid the coronavirus pandemic. As of Monday evening, 50 Chicago police officers have been diagnosed with COVID-19.

“We should strongly consider closing down police stations to the general public, where anyone can come in and hang around in the lobby,” he said. “We have 911 if there’s an emergency situation … but I think we’re putting our officers at risk, having the lobbies open where people can congregate.”

The 19th Ward includes Beverly, Mount Greenwood and other neighborhoods home to many first responders.

O’Shea is also organizing efforts to provide free meals for front-line medical workers and on-duty Chicago police officers and firefighters. So far, he’s helpedraise over $40,000since launching the campaign earlier this month.

The goal, O’shea says, is “just to let them know that we care about them, we’re thinking about them, and we want to do what we can to support them.”