{"id":3877,"date":"2020-09-11T18:20:22","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T18:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=3877"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:52:08","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:52:08","slug":"durham-sheriff-requests-more-covid-19-testing-for-county-jail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2020\/09\/11\/durham-sheriff-requests-more-covid-19-testing-for-county-jail\/","title":{"rendered":"Durham sheriff requests more COVID-19 testing for county jail"},"content":{"rendered":"
Because exposure to the coronavirus remains a risk inside Durham County Detention Center, the sheriff wants funding to test inmates and staff more frequently.<\/span> \u201cWe take this very seriously,\u201d Birkhead said during a commissioners meeting.<\/span> Commissioner Ellen Reckhow asked whether an approach that falls between those two options might be preferable. \u201cOne is the Cadillac at 200 and one seems quite low at 20, is there one in between?\u201d she asked. <\/span> \u201cEvery employee and every person housed here can be infected with COVID-19,\u201d said <\/span>Anothony <\/span>Prignano, <\/span>chief deputy for detention said<\/span>. <\/span> If a previously confined person leaves the detention center and returns, they are placed in quarantine for 14 days. That includes people in custody who go to the Durham County Courthouse, where multiple cases of coronavirus have been detected in the clerk of court\u2019s, magistrate\u2019s, and district attorney\u2019s offices, the sheriff said.<\/span><\/p>\n For the 14-day quarantine, jail residents are housed in a part of the detention center separate from the rest of the population. People admitted to the center stay there too until it\u2019s clear they are not carrying the virus, said department spokeswoman AnnMarie Breen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>One hospitalized inmate sick with COVID-19 has been on and off ventilators over the past four weeks, Sheriff Clarence Birkhead told county commissioners on Tuesday.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>To keep staff, inmates and the wider community safe, Birkhead asked county commissioners for funding to have jail inmates and staff tested for the virus every two weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>On April 25, <\/span>Durham County detention officer Alexander Pettiway Jr.<\/span> died from<\/span><\/a> COVID-19. After an outbreak in August, testing confirmed 21 cases among 262 inmates and five among\u00a0 <\/span>staff.<\/span>
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\n<\/span><\/a>Testing staff and inmates every two weeks would cost between $60,000 to $110,000 each time, depending on whether the county health department or Duke University handled the testing, Birkhead said. Alternatively, his department could test 20 employees every two weeks he said.<\/p>\n
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\n<\/span>Birkhead agreed to return to the commissioners with more details about testing options as early as Monday.\u00a0 <\/span>
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\n<\/span>An important group to test are inmates getting released from center custody into the community, the sheriff said. The center releases 73 residents on average a month and they are not tested before departing, he said. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>The sheriff also proposed requiring that each new detention center hire test negative for the virus within seven days before beginning work. <\/span>
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\n<\/span>Beyond testing, department staff continue to take steps to reduce the risk of the coronavirus spreading at the facility, Birkhead said.<\/span><\/p>\n