Lax procedures, staff apathy led to hundreds with COVID at Portland jail, inmates say
Updated Feb 11, 2021;
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In mid-January, inmates at the Multnomah County Inverness Jail started testing positive for COVID-19. Two weeks later, over 140 have been infected.
The explosion in cases the first major outbreak at Inverness since the pandemic started has caused tension and frustration at the east Portland jail, which houses 512 men and women.
Inmates are scared and frustrated over being forced to live in quarters with COVID-positive bunkmates. Some started an uprising Sunday that led to deputies taking shelter in a small office. Work being done on electronics upgrades has forced overcrowding. And a county audit describes staff not taking protocols seriously and being undisciplined about mask use.
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The jail, like any congregate facility, is not built for a viral outbreak. With dorms comprised of single cells and dozens of beds separated by half-walls, an infected cough can quickly travel through the unit, which typically holds 40 people. The Multnomah County Sheriff s Office (MCSO), which oversees the county s two adult jails, had tried to avoid the transmission of COVID-19 by opening up an extra dorm in Inverness, holding incoming inmates 14 days in a quarantined dorm before transferring them into the jail s general population, and routinely checking inmates temperatures.