Dozens of Allegheny County Jail inmates, employees test positive for covid-19

A covid-19 outbreak in the Allegheny County Jail is now affecting more employees along with dozens of those housed in the jail awaiting trial or serving sentences, officials said Tuesday.

Two weeks after Warden Orlando Harper announced that 10 ACJ employees had tested positive for the virus, the number of active cases among staff have grown to 29. An additional 40 employees are in quarantine because of their possible exposures.

All but one of the 27 incarcerated individuals who have tested positive have all been placed in isolation in the same housing unit, Harper said in a statement. Another 200 are in quarantine across four housing units.

Those who are in isolation, Harper said, are not showing symptoms but are “monitored regularly.”

It was not immediately clear what prompted testing of the latest round of inmates. A proposal earlier this year to test all inmates regardless of symptoms failed to pass a vote of the Jail Oversight Board.

Harper reiterated a series of statements given when he announced the 10 ill employees in late November, repeating that jail leadership continues “to follow the advice of the facility’s medical provider as it relates to precautions for inmates” and “keep the lines of communication open” to make sure mitigation efforts are being followed.

He also reiterated the list of mitigation efforts within the jail: hand-washing, mask-wearing, social distancing, contact tracing, testing “when appropriate” and consistent cleaning. The jail also has screening procedures in place, including temperature and symptom checks.

Since the pandemic began 66 ACJ inmates have tested positive for the virus and, save for the 27 current cases, all have either recovered or been released, Harper said. Fifty-five employees have tested positive, and outside of the current cases, all have recovered and returned to work.