NEWPORT – A Covid-19 outbreak has hit 25 inmates and 10 staff of the Lincoln County Jail, resulting in a weeklong lockdown of the facility.
Sheriff Curtis Landers told county commissioners on Wednesday that four inmates in one jail pod were showing Covid-19 symptoms Jan. 19 and tested positive. Further testing the next few days showed an additional 21 inmates – all men – and 10 jailers were positive, he said.
Landers said the jail was put on lockdown, meaning that inmates were confined to their cells and prohibited from mixing with other inmates, staff and visitors. It was either that, he told commissioners, or “face a large release into the community.”
The jail currently has 106 men and women in custody, a capacity of 121 during the pandemic and a staff of 35 corrections deputies.
Landers said staff is working overtime to fill in for the deputies who are ill, although some staff had started to return Wednesday. Nine of the 10 deputies who tested positive had been vaccinated, Landers said. Tests of all inmates and staff will be conducted again Saturday.
“Hopefully by next week there will be a decline in the spread,” he said.
In a news release later Wednesday, the sheriff’s office said in addition to regular testing, the jail is being cleaned, temperature checks are being conducted on all staff and inmates, and face coverings are required.