COVID-19 policies reinstated after 25 inmates test positive in Boone County
LEBANON, Ind. (WISH) — The Boone County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) announced Thursday it is reinstating COVID-19 policies and protocols after several inmates and two employees recently tested positive for the coronavirus.
Sheriff Michael Nielson called the spread of the virus at the BCSO facility “alarming,” noting that no inmates had tested positive for the virus during the pandemic until this month.
“At the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, the Boone County Sheriff’s Office created many COVID-19 policies to keep staff, inmates, and citizens safe,” the department said in a press release to News 8. “We were able to keep positive cases with our staff at a minimum and had zero cases with inmates. This was not the norm throughout Indiana and the country.”
A “slow open” was initiated at the jail in late May and some, but not all of the restrictions, were lifted.
An inmate tested positive for COVID-19 on July 16, the department said. The inmate was quarantined and masks were given to the inmates who shared the block with the COVID-positive inmate and the affected block was placed in quarantine on July 19.
Two inmates from a different block tested positive on July 23. Coronavirus tests were given to inmates in that block and four more inmates tested positive.
Coronavirus policies were reinstated after those tests. The department said all inmates were then offered tests and 128 of 132 of them consented to take the test. Of those inmates, 25 tested positive.
“We knew when we began to open the facility back up that we would probably get the virus into our facility but not to this level so quickly,” Nielson said.” I can assure you that we are doing everything we can to prevent the spread of the virus while making sure those infected are receiving the best medical care possible and at the same time trying to protect our dedicated staff that is working behind those secured walls every day.
Two employees have also tested positive for COVID-19. They immediately began a 10-day quarantine, the department said.
Nielson is encouraging everyone to mask up and get vaccinated “to protect those that are vulnerable and to protect yourself.”