VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — At the height of the pandemic, jails and prisons were coronavirus hotspots. As cases, once again, rise across Hampton Roads, local jails are taking action to try and prevent another outbreak.
According to the latest numbers from The Virginia Beach Sheriff’s Office, as of last Monday, more than 100 inmates tested positive – up from 30.
The facility is taking action to combat the spread. Officials there have suspended the weekender program to reduce traffic into the jail.
According to a spokesperson for the sheriff's office, the inmates are in quarantine.
Over at the Western Tidewater Regional Jail, cases there are under control thanks in part to stringent health and safety protocols introduced by jail officials.
After an outbreak last month that sickened more than 100 inmates and employees, there are now two asymptomatic COVID-positive inmates.
But the jail's superintendent William Smith noted keeping inmates from getting sick is a tall task. Jails across the country can be super-spreaders.
“You’re asking for an impossible task, almost. For the jail to prevent this from getting in,” Smith said.
“It’s really an unbelievable task. I’ve done this about 32 years and I think this is the most difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with in corrections.”
Smith said at his facility, visitors aren’t allowed, everyone wears masks, and the facility is disinfected regularly.
Similar protocols are in place at the Virginia Beach Sheriff's Office.
But there's no guarantee the virus will be kept at bay.
“We have inmates, new individuals that are arrested every day that come into the facility, we have inmates that have to go out to medical appointments every day, we still have courts that are running that require inmates to be transported to court,” Smith explained. “We still have staff members coming in the facility who have daily contact with the outside world, so the task is monumental.”
Jail employees have also tested positive in both facilities.
Among other preventive measures: At both facilities, inmates are tested and isolated when they arrive.
“We’ve done a lot of things, it’s still extremely difficult to keep COVID-19 out of the facility. It’s a difficult task," Smith said.