The COVID-19 outbreak at the Forsyth County Detention Center has expanded to include another six inmates and five jail staff members.
That s up from 31 inmates and six staff members listed in Tuesday s report. In the initial outbreak disclosure on Dec. 4, there were five staff members and four inmates considered as infected.
DHHS provides semiweekly reports on long-term care and correctional facilities on Tuesdays and Fridays.
It s likely the outbreak total will increase given that county public-health officials began testing all inmates on Wednesday and all jail staff members on Thursday. The jail is at 201 N. Church St. in Winston-Salem.
DHHS lists COVID-19 cases and deaths on the day they are confirmed by medical providers and public-health officials, so individuals may have been infected or died days before their case is counted.
After ignoring calls by local groups to drastically reduce the jail population and to stop arrests of certain charges in order to prevent the introduction and spread of COVID-19 within the Detention Centerâs walls, Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough and District Attorney Jim OâNeill are now faced with the predicted outcome: COVID is rapidly spreading through the Detention Center. Almost 40 people incarcerated have contracted the virus, and at least 11 staff. It has already sent at least one incarcerated person to the hospital.
The virus will flourish within the jail, and it will spread out into the rest of our community. The situation is dire; emergency and ICU beds at Wake Forest Baptist are at 100% capacity. This will have devastating, lasting effects.
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