The number of COVID-19 cases at the Fulton County Jail is growing by the day. The count as of March 31 is 14, rising by nine in 24 hours.
On March 23, the first case was confirmed at the Atlanta jail. That inmate, who is in his 30s, was hospitalized. He was being treated for a chronic illness, which officials say may have made him more susceptible to the virus.
All subsequent cases are still being treated inside the jail. “They are in isolation with around-the-clock care,” sheriff’s office spokeswoman Tracy Flanagan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
No jail personnel has tested positive for coronavirus. Inmate visitation has been limited to video and everyone entering the jail, including employees, has their temperature taken.
According to Flanagan, four inmates who tested positive before last weekend are showing signs of improvement.
Sheriff Ted Jackson the hospital’s medical services provider, medical team and Fulton County Sheriff’s Office staff “who are working in these extraordinary times — especially those deputies and detention officers assigned to the area where the coronavirus patients are in isolation. Those employees are coming to work, taking precautions, and their commitment is admirable.”
As the pandemic spreads, Fulton County Jail authorities are looking for ways to curtail its effect on inmates and staffers.
The jail has already released 33 non-violent offenders due to overcrowding. “These were inmates with release dates whose files were evaluated by jail staff to determine whether the defendants were eligible to get out of jail early,” Flanagan said. “There are plans to review more files to determine if other non-violent offenders can be granted an early release.”
The Southern Center for Human Rights issued a statement of concern about COVID-19 spreading in Georgia prisons.
“Georgia’s prisons house large numbers of elderly people and people with complex medical conditions,” a letter from the Southern Center said. “If COVID-19 gains a foothold in Georgia’s prisons, there is a risk of widespread infection and death.”
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Georgia isn’t the only state concerned about the advance of COVID-19 in prisons and jails.
Since March 22, jails have reported 226 inmates and 131 staff with confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to a Reuters survey of cities and counties that operate the 20 largest U.S. jails.
