Two staff members at the Prince William County jail have tested positive for coronavirus, and 11 inmates are showing signs of the disease.
Now there’s a quarantine underway at the facility in Manassas.
The coronavirus cases come after an inmate who was released from the jail on May 8 tested positive for coronavirus on May 11. That same day, the two staff members called in sick to work, telling administrators they were experiencing symptoms of the coronavirus disease. Three days later, they tested positive for the coronavirus.
Right now, there are 58 inmates quarantined at the jail, and of them, 11 inmates are exhibiting symptoms consistent with the coronavirus. Each was tested, and the results are pending, a Prince William County official says.
More from the county:
The [jail] has two quarantine housing units, which are pod units with individual cells so that inmates can be quarantined individually. One unit is used for all newly admitted inmates. The second unit is designated for those inmates who were in contact with the inmate who was released from custody.
“The welfare and safety of the inmates and staff at the ADC are our number one priority,” said ADC Superintendent Pete Meletis. “From the very start of COVID-19, we’ve put numerous process and procedures in place to keep the virus out of the ADC, and as much as possible, to mitigate the spread of the virus if it were to enter the facility. We will continue to do everything we can to keep our inmates and staff safe.”
The ADC continues to follow all CDC and Virginia Department of Health guidelines. All staff and visitors continue to receive temperature and symptom checks, and every staff person is required to wear a mask in the presence of inmates. Inmates assigned to work detail receive two temperature and symptom checks daily. Cleaning, disinfecting and sanitizing have been and continue to be top priority, and increased disinfecting has been occurring on a regular and consistent basis since the beginning of the pandemic.
