Covid-19 surge at Westmoreland jail eases, inmate transports to resume

Transportation of inmates to court hearings will resume Wednesday as the number of coronavirus cases at the Westmoreland County Prison continues to decline.

Common Pleas Court President Judge Rita Hathaway rescinded a court order issued in late January that halted inmate transfers amid a wave of new cases that saw more nearly 40% of the facility’s population infected with the virus.

Inmates will again be allowed to attend in-person hearings at the courthouse and local magistrate offices, the judge said.

On Jan. 27, prison officials reported that more than 100 inmates were in quarantine after testing positive for covid-19. Warden Bryan Kline said last week 215 inmates contracted the virus in January, but that surge appeared to have eased with just 74 active cases there on Jan. 31.

As of Tuesday, Kline said 34 inmates remained infected with two new cases diagnosed this week.

“The majority (of cases) will be cleared by the end of the week,” Kline said.

According to Pennsylvania’s Department of Health, covid-19 infections has substantially declined in Westmoreland County after a January surge that saw caseloads dramatically rise as the omicron variant of the virus flared throughout the country. The state reported that new cases skyrocketed in Westmoreland County throughout the month, including one day in mid-January were more than 900 new infections were reported.

Case totals have since eased with a total of 1,364 new infections reported over the last seven days in the county. Just 59 new cases were reported on Sunday and 142 on Monday.