Two additional incarcerated people have tested positive for COVID-19 at Monroe County Correctional Center since the first case was reported last week, according to a Monday press release from Monroe County Sheriff Brad Swain. These are the first known cases at the jail.
The release did not say when the tests were administered, when results were received or whether the jail knows how the exposures happened. The Sheriff’s Office was not available for questions late Tuesday evening.
The most recent people who tested positive were located in a separate cell block from the first known case, Swain said in the release. The three who tested positive reported mild symptoms or no symptoms at all, according to the release. Two other people sharing a cell also reported symptoms and were moved to separate medical cells.
The release said the correctional center is in contact with the Indiana Department of Health about the recent cases, and additional precautions are being taken.
The release said 44 incarcerated people were offered COVID-19 tests after the cases were discovered and 27 agreed to be tested. Those results are expected next week.
The correctional center has implemented an ionization process in the facility’s air system in hopes of killing viruses such as COVID-19. The release said staff wear N-95-level masks while working with incarcerated people, though people who had been recently incarcerated alleged in September that some staff didn’t wear masks.
While Swain said vaccines will be made available for all interested at the earliest opportunity, the timing of that rollout is unclear.
