A total of 224 people have tested positive since an outbreak of COVID-19 began at the Forsyth County Jail in November, including 186 inmates and 38 staffers, according to the
A total of 224 people have tested positive since an outbreak of COVID-19 began at the Forsyth County Jail in November, including 186 inmates and 38 staffers, according to the latest numbers released Tuesday by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.Â
That s an increase of 39 from from Friday, when 185 people had tested positive for the virus. Despite the increase, Forsyth County commissioners who approve funding for the jail said they support the sheriff s office s efforts to control the outbreak.
The jail outbreak remains the second largest in the state, behind the Mecklenburg County Jail. The state health department reported a total of 276 people who had tested positive since the outbreak began at the Mecklenburg County Jail, including 32 staffers and 244 inmates. The state health agency lists one death a staffer since the outbreak began. A spokeswoman for the Mecklenburg County Jail has disputed the state s numbers and said that there have been no deaths related
COVID-19 cases at the Forsyth County Jail have surged again, with a total of 185 people, including 157 inmates and 28 staffers, testing positive since the outbreak began, according to the latest numbers released Friday by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.Â
On Tuesday, the state health department reported a total of 116 people infected during the jail outbreak, 97 inmates and 19 staffers.
The jail outbreak is the second largest in the state, behind the Mecklenburg County Jail which has had 405 cumulative COVID-19 cases. Thirty cases are active. There are 29 residents in custody with COVID-19, one resident has been hospitalized and an additional 293 residents are housed in either respiratory isolation or respiratory quarantine due to potential exposures, according to a spokeswoman for the Mecklenburg jail. There have been no COVID-19 related deaths there, she said.
An additional eight staffers at the Forsyth County Jail have become infected with COVID-19, along with two more inmates, according to the latest report from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
With the new numbers, the Forsyth County Jail has had a total of 116 COVID-19 infections, including 97 inmates and 19 staffers, in an outbreak that began at the end of November. The jail has the second-largest outbreak of COVID-19 among 21 correctional facilities listed in the DHHS report. Mecklenburg County Jail had the largest outbreak with 267 total COVID-19 cases.
The increase in COVID-19 cases comes after the Forsyth County Sheriff s Office tested 568 inmates in December. The jail also tested 210 staff members after 11 staffers had already tested positive. Just before Christmas, a total of 95 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19.
Sheriff Kimbrough Speaks about COVID-19 in the Forsyth County Jail
The number of inmates infected with COVID-19 at the Forsyth County Jail has jumped to 95 after four inmates were retested after results came back inconclusive and new inmates tested positive at the jail s intake, according to the county s health director and the sheriff s office.Â
The Forsyth County Sheriff s Office announced on Monday that after mass testing, 68 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported on Tuesday that 67 inmates at the jail had tested positive. It wasn t immediately clear why there was a discrepancy between the state and local numbers on Tuesday.Â