Brazos County sheriff Chris Kirk informed county commissioners during Tuesday’s meeting that additional steps have been taken at the jail following more exposure to coronavirus.
Kirk says that’s after an inmate who was held in Brazos County since January was transferred, and the new facility reported the inmate tested positive.
One jail dormitory was locked down and testing was conducted on 56 inmates and five staff members who were exposed to the inmate.
Out of test results that have been received, 15 inmates tested negative and one tested positive.
In addition to the lockdown, the sheriff reported eight other inmates and eight officers are in quarantine for possible exposure. And a patrol deputy is in isolation due to testing positive.
Click below for comments from Chris Kirk during the July 7, 2020 Brazos County commission meeting:
News release from Brazos County sheriff Chris Kirk:
On July 2, 2020, the Brazos County Detention was notified an inmate that had been transferred to another facility on June 26th tested positive for COVID 19. The inmate was asymptomatic and had been in custody since December 2019. The dormitory where the inmate had been housed was placed on lockdown status and every inmate in the dormitory was asked to submit to testing. Fifty six inmates were tested and four refused. The inmates that refused were placed in medical isolation for observation.
On July 7, the results for 16 of the tests were received. Fifteen were negative and one was positive. The other test results are pending. The inmate testing positive is non-symptomatic and has been placed in medical isolation for observation.
Sheriff’s Office personnel continue to follow our infectious disease protocols. Our protocols include medical isolation and use of personal protective equipment. Sheriff’s Office personnel will continue to implement our response plan and take safety precautions for the duration of this arrestee’s detention. The Brazos County Health District will be notified prior to his release.
“For more than four months our primary objective has been to keep COVID 19 out of our jail. As the number of cases in the community has grown, we have seen an increase in the number of detention personnel on quarantine status and the number of new arrestees with exposure has increased. The identification of a positive case in the facility expands our primary objective to include isolation of the infection and providing necessary treatment in addition to our effort to prevent new exposures.”