Coronavirus enters Salt Lake County jails
Apr 8, 2020, 12:13 PM | Updated: Dec 30, 2022, 11:25 am
SALT LAKE COUNTY – It’s official. The coronavirus is now behind bars. At least six inmates tested positive for COVID-19 and even more employees are sick with coronavirus.
Salt Lake County Sheriff, Rosie Rivera, spoke with KSL Newsradio’s Dave & Dujanovic on Wednesday morning. She said all the inmates who tested positive, and those who need to be quarantined because of close contact, are now at the Salt Lake Metro jail.
Rivera gave a report to the Salt Lake County Council regarding sick staff members on Tuesday. Four jail officers and a civilian employee in the Oxbow location tested positive; plus two more civilian employees in the Metro jail.
“There’s also a ‘continuity of operations plan’ in place,” said Rivera to Dave & Dujanovic. It went into effect almost immediately after the pandemic was announced, so Rivera “isn’t concerned about staffing at the facilities.”
She said with all the inmates in the same place, the Salt Lake Metro jail, they can be treated by the medical staff in one cell.
At the meeting on Tuesday, Salt Lake County Councilwoman Shireen Ghorbani asked if the jail has enough masks, gloves, soap and other hygiene items.
Salt Lake County Chief Deputy Matt Dumont responded “for the time being, the jail does have enough,” but he worries that may change.
“Now our supply chain is getting about half of what our orders are,” Dumont said. He also noted jails across the country are likely running into the same problem amid a surge in demand.
