FRESHWATER COUNTY – Officials confirmed this afternoon that the Sweetwater County Detention Center is on lockdown due to the discovery of two lab-confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 among its inmates.
The discovery was made over the weekend, according to Jason Mower, public information deputy for the sheriff’s department. Mower said this is the second lockdown at the county jail due to COVID, and the department is following the same safety protocols as last time.
“Out of an abundance of caution and in an effort to prevent any further spread or outbreak, and while it is certainly not practical for those currently housed at the facility, for the next fourteen days everyone is only allowed in one hour each day. from their cells, one person at a time in a given accommodation,” Mower said.
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He added that this temporary restriction does not preclude any of the department’s other routine rights or privileges such as meals, medical appointments, visits or phone calls.
The department is in the process of testing everyone housed at the facility, but Mower said it was business as usual at the detention center.
We’re keeping everyone separated from each other while we make sure no one else gets sick and testing everyone to make sure we don’t have any additional positive cases.
Jason Mower, Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Deputy
Since the start of the pandemic, SCSO has followed a variety of best practice procedures and protocols recommended by the CDC, the Federal Bureau of Prisons and the National Institute of Prison Operations, Mower said.
An example is the use of an adult housing unit as a dedicated quarantine unit. Each new person booked into the facility spends their first fourteen days with daily temperature and symptom checks by departmental medical staff before being released into the general housing population.
“We have also distributed masks to everyone and we exchange them for new ones every week,” added Mower. “And we also offer free vaccination clinics every month, as supplies allow.”
