PHOENIX (AP) - Maricopa County Sheriff’s officials and the county’s Correctional Health Services are tracking and responding to a rise in coronavirus cases inside jail facilities, with the number of confirmed cases increasing from six to 30 since the end of last month.
County officials said Thursday that 23 of the cases involve inmates in four different jails who are isolated and receiving treatment from medical staff.
The screening protocol implemented in March allows jail staff to immediately identify and isolate people with symptoms or those considered at-risk so they never enter the general population before being cleared of COVID-19.
Authorities said every sick inmate also is tested for the coronavirus with 318 returning negative results to date.
In addition to the screening protocol, all new inmates are placed in cohort housing where they stay for 14 days before entering the general population.
Sheriff’s officials said they’ve been working with the courts, prosecutors and defense attorneys and have reduced the jail population to about 5,000 inmates in five jails.
Correctional Health Services currently has 78 inmates in isolation awaiting results of COVID-19 tests.
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