By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
After avoiding an outbreak of COVID-19 cases experienced at many correctional facilities early on, Wood County Jail currently has at least 11 inmates and seven deputies with coronavirus.
Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn said Wednesday afternoon that the inmates were tested after they reported that they weren’t feeling well. Those who tested positive are all being isolated from the general jail population, and none have required hospitalization, the sheriff said.
Unlike state prisons, county jails cannot turn away inmates with the virus, Wasylyshyn said.
“I don’t have a choice. If someone has committed a crime, they need to be in jail, and they have COVID, we take them,” he said.
The jail has taken COVID safety measures seriously since last March when the virus first arrived in Wood County, according to Wasylyshyn.
“We were wearing masks early on,” plus cleaning often, adjusting air flows, and isolating new inmates in booking. “We’ve done everything we can.”
“We had it under control,” the sheriff said. “We had not had a large spike in the jail.”
Then this week, the numbers went up.
“We have 11 inmates that we know of who have tested positive for COVID,” he said. “It’s more than we’ve ever had in the jail.”
Wasylyshyn has been in contact with Wood County Health Commissioner Ben Robison and the Bureau of Adult Detention about further steps that should be taken at the jail to prevent the spread.
The health department gave the jail test kits, but advised against testing all 130 inmates in the jail, the sheriff said. Instead, inmates will only be tested if they are feeling ill or if they were exposed to someone who has tested positive.
The jail has adequate space to isolate people who test positive from the rest of the population, according to the sheriff.
The jail employees have also been fitted with personal protective equipment. “Those were not available to us before,” Wasylyshyn said. “We’re going to be able to better protect our deputies.”
The sheriff expressed frustration about county jail employees and deputies in Ohio not qualifying for COVID vaccines yet.
“The governor has not allowed law enforcement to get vaccines,” he said. “It’s very, very frustrating.”
Wood County Sheriff’s deputies have been asked by the health department to make themselves available if any vaccine doses are left over from clinics – so they don’t go to waste. But only seven or eight deputies – out of 135 – have gotten the vaccine so far, Wasylyshyn said.
Particularly discouraging is that state prison employees have been given the vaccine, he added.
“But we’re not on any list,” he said.
Inmates who qualify for the vaccine are able to get it, and some have been transported to get their second doses.
“There’s no light at the end of the tunnel when we will get the vaccine,” Wasylyshyn said.
Meanwhile, county jails cannot turn away inmates testing positive for COVID, he stressed. With seven deputies testing positive, the jail still has adequate staff, the sheriff said.
“Obviously it’s costing overtime. But we’re having no issues covering shifts.”
