Mass testing was conducted for every staff member of the Chesterfield Sheriff’s Office and every inmate in the county jail June 15. Over 490 total tests were administered in one day.
Of all the staff members tested which includes employees in the courts as well as the jail, almost 280, no one tested positive for COVID-19.
“This is an amazing testament to the protocols and procedures we have put in place but also a testament to our staff members adherence to them,” said Sheriff Karl S. Leonard. The proof is in the results that all of the precautions we have implemented.”
Of the over 200 inmates who were tested, only 15 tested positive, all of which were asymptomatic. All of the inmates who tested positive were areas that had been expected to have positive tests and areas that yielded previous positive tests. No new areas in the jail had positive cases.
This brings the cumulative number of inmates with positive tests to 41, all but seven of which were asymptomatic. The seven with mild symptoms are being monitored closely by medical staff, and the other 34 are in quarantine and are also are being monitored.
“The cooperation during the testing by all the inmates was unprecedented and noteworthy, Leonard said, “Now that we have all of our positive cases confined in the jail it positions us to get control of this and limit cross-contamination of COVID-19.”
The Chesterfield Sheriff’s Office will not release additional information about the inmates due to medical privacy laws.
