Virus cases spiking again at El Paso jails & detention facilities
EL PASO, Texas -- El Paso County’s two jails are experiencing another wave of Covid-19 cases, with 30 inmates and five detention officers having current active cases, state records show.
The jails had reported nine active cases among inmates and two among detention officers a week earlier. The growth in jail cases comes as El Paso is experiencing a second wave of Covid-19 cases. Sheriff Richard Wiles told El Paso Matters that the spike in Covid-19 cases at the jail is a result of people infected with the virus being arrested and then booked.
“Because of the increases we’ve seen in the general public, we are seeing increases in Covid cases among arrestees coming into the jail,” Wiles said. “All arrestees that are not able to bond out or be released are separated until day four, when they are tested. If negative, they go into the jail population. If positive, they remain separated.”
El Paso reported 523 new positive Covid-19 tests on Thursday, by far the highest one day count during the pandemic.
The family of one inmate who tested positive this week said he’s been jailed for several weeks, which indicates he was infected at the jail, not in the community.
“So how do they explain Covid cases among detainees like my brother who have been in general population for a month?” said a woman who asked that she and her brother not be identified to protect his privacy.
Wiles said inmates with Covid-19 have access to medical care in jail.
“They are checked every 30 to 60 minutes depending on their status. And, we are able to isolate them to prevent them from spreading it to others. I think that, overall, we’ve done a decent job keeping the numbers down,” he said.
The first wave of Covid-19 infections at the jail came in late June and early July, as the novel coronavirus tore through El Paso. One inmate died in that wave.
Wiles said the jail had a total of 401 inmates and 80 detention officers who tested positive for Covid-19 as of Sept. 21. That number would not include most of the current active cases at the jail. The Sheriff’s Department mass tests all inmates and jailers, he said.
Another large El Paso detention facility, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement El Paso Service Processing Center, also is experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases. It has 23 confirmed active cases of Covid-19 among detainees as of Oct. 6, and has had 32 detainees test positive for the virus since Sept. 14. In all, 222 detainees have tested positive at the facility since the pandemic began.
The other large detention facility in El Paso, the Rogelio Sanchez State Jail, reported no active cases among inmates and 10 cases among employees as of Thursday.
