Nearly two dozen inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 following an outbreak at the Newton County Jail, authorities said.
In a statement posted to Facebook, Newton County Sheriff Ezell Brown said 21 inmates have tested positive for the highly contagious virus and that they likely contracted it from the jail’s staff.
“The Newton County Sheriff’s Office is currently experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak within a section of its detention center,” the sheriff said, adding most of the inmates are showing few symptoms, if any. “Based on our contact tracing and investigation, we have reason to believe those 21 residents contracted the virus from staff.”
Cases spiked across the state and nation following the holiday season, but Brown said this is the first outbreak at the county jail since the pandemic began in Georgia last spring.
“We regret that this situation occurred, but we are no different from the normal population within the county who tested positive for COVID-19,” he said Friday afternoon. “From last March up until yesterday, we have not experienced a single COVID-19 case in our detention center and for that, we are blessed.”
Brown said one inmate who was recently transferred to the county jail from another facility that had an outbreak is showing more symptoms than the others who tested positive. That inmate has been quarantined in a “zero-pressured unit” and is receiving special attention as a result of his symptoms, he said.
“I send my regards to the mother who called with concerns about her loved one and not being able to bring him chicken noodle soup, as requested,” the sheriff said.
Brown’s statement did not say which jail the man was transferred from or how many sheriff’s office employees have contracted COVID.
“As always, we test all incoming residents for COVID-19, and they are placed in quarantine for 14 days, then are retested before being placed in any other form of population,” the statement said.
As a result of the outbreak, movement has been restricted within two sections of the jail and the sheriff’s office has increased medical staff to provide 24-hour care to the inmates who tested positive, Brown said. So far, none of the inmates have exhibited life-threatening symptoms.
On Friday, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported nearly 10,400 new confirmed cases across the state, 391 hospitalizations and 80 more COVID-related deaths. Statewide, 10,180 people have died as a result of COVID-19 complications since the pandemic began.
