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MEDIA CONTACT: JACE RADKE | 702.229.2205 | 702.249.3514
City Jail Sees Spike In COVID-19 Cases
Unit Of Jail Quarantined
A unit of the city of Las Vegas jail has been quarantined following 43 presumed positive cases of the coronavirus. The population in the unit at the time of testing was 91 inmates.
All arrestees entering the city jail are tested for COVID-19 and then held in a quarantine area until the test results are known. Those arrestees who display symptoms of the coronavirus are placed in administrative isolation pending further medical evaluation.
It was discovered that an inmate who initially tested negative at the city jail, and was released into the general population, later had a positive test for the coronavirus when transferred to the Clark County Detention Center (CCDC). Staff at CCDC notified the city jail of the positive test. As a precautionary measure, the unit from where the inmate was housed was placed on quarantine status. During this quarantine period, another inmate began to experience symptoms of COVID-19. Out of an abundance of caution, the remaining inmate population in that unit was tested for the coronavirus.
Those test results indicated 43 of the 91 were presumed positive. All are under evaluation by medical staff, with their symptoms being monitored. No inmates have required hospitalization.
The city believes the inmate who tested positive was carrying the virus when booked into the facility but most likely tested negative because the disease had not yet had time to progress fully. To prevent this from happening in the future, the city is imposing a more extended quarantine period. In addition, the city is looking to increase testing parameters within its entire jail facility.
Before this recent spike, positive tests of COVID-19 in the jail had been very low, numbering approximately 12. The total jail population is averaging about 500 inmates each day.
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