A COVID-19 outbreak has rapidly spread through a Virginia jail, infecting at least 120 inmates and 20 staff members despite emergency protocols officials say have been in place since March to prevent the contagion from infiltrating the facility. The Pamunkey Regional Jail in Hanover, Virginia, is the
A COVID-19 outbreak has rapidly spread through a Virginia jail, infecting at least 120 inmates and 20 staff members despite emergency protocols officials say have been in place since March to prevent the contagion from infiltrating the facility.
“It’s virtually impossible to stop outbreaks from occurring within facilities of these types," Dr. Tom Franck, director of the Chickahominy Health District in Virginia, said during a news conference at the jail."When you have a congregated setting like this and you’ve got people sharing bathrooms and sharing space together, it’s almost inevitable that you’re going to get outbreaks.”
He said the two jail employees and a third staff member who tested positive on Aug. 31 were immediately instructed to self-isolate. Since then, another 17 staff members have tested positive and have gone into self-isolation. The outbreak at the jail came despite stringent precautionary measures instituted at the jail in March that include medical screenings of all newly arriving inmates, who are placed in quarantine for 14 days before being moved to the general population, according to Willett. He said the jail has also canceled all non-essential visits, instituted enhanced cleaning measures of the facility and trained staff and inmates on hand-washing and proper social distancing.
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