Guard at SC jail tests positive for coronavirus, more show symptoms, sheriff says
A guard at a South Carolina jail has tested positive for COVID-19, and more detention center employees are showing symptoms of the coronavirus, the Florence County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.
Another sheriff’s office employee has also tested positive for COVID-19, Florence County officials said in a news release.
That employee and the Florence County Detention Center guard have been quarantined, according to the release.
Another sheriff’s office employee who might have been exposed to the coronavirus is also in quarantine, it said in the release.
Two other jail employees are showing symptoms of the virus and have been tested for COVID-19, officials said. While waiting for the results, those employees have been placed in quarantine, according to the release.
No inmates at the detention center have tested positive for COVID-19, officials said.
“Given the public nature of our business, and the unavoidable contact with the public, we have been fortunate that there have not been more COVID-19 cases involving our deputies and our Detention Center,” Sheriff Billy Barnes said in the release. “This is at least in part due to our implementation of appropriate protocols early on during the crisis.”
The sheriff said his office is continuing to watch the situation and will add more safety protocols if needed.
Since testing began, 168 people in Florence County have tested positive for the coronavirus, health officials with the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control said. Eight of those patients with COVID-19 have died, DHEC reported.
Two employees of Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County tested positive for COVID-19 in early April.
None of the inmates in that jail tested positive for the coronavirus or showed any symptoms, according to county officials.
In Charleston County, at least six inmates at the Al Cannon Detention Center are confirmed to have the coronavirus, officials from the sheriff’s office said. Nine of the 881 inmates locked up at the jail are in isolation because of they are either from high-risk states or they are ill, but none has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to officials.
Additionally, one sheriff’s deputy working as a guard at the jail tested positive for COVID-19, officials said.
The first confirmed case of an inmate at a South Carolina prison testing positive for the coronavirus was reported late Sunday night by the Department of Corrections.
Since then the Kirkland Correctional Institution in Columbia was placed on a two-week quarantine lockdown after a second inmate tested positive for COVID-19.
There are 17,828 inmates in South Carolina.
Through Wednesday, 36 SCDC employees have self-reported testing positive for the coronavirus, prison officials said. That includes eight non-institutional staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19. Approximately 5,000 people work at Corrections.
On Tuesday, 172 new cases of the coronavirus were reported in South Carolina, bringing the statewide total to 4,608 confirmed COVID-19 cases in all 46 counties, according to DHEC.
DHEC also announced that 11 more people died after testing positive for the coronavirus, raising that total to 135. State health officials described 117 of the people as elderly, 18 patients were middle-aged, and all but 17 are confirmed to have had underlying medical conditions.
“There is currently no cure or vaccine,” the South Carolina Emergency Management Division said.
There have been 37,833 combined negative tests at DHEC’s public health laboratory and at private labs.
Symptoms of coronavirus can include a fever, coughing, and difficulty breathing, according to the CDC. Among the emergency warning signs of COVID-19 is trouble breathing, persistent pain or pressure in the chest, and blueish lips or face, the CDC said.
DHEC is encouraging people to practice social distancing to help stop the spread of the virus. Social distancing is staying away from unnecessary interactions with sick people and from large groups of people; it also calls for remaining at home unless it is absolutely necessary to go out.
As of Wednesday morning, 2,585,468 people worldwide have been diagnosed with coronavirus and 178,845 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States leads the world with 825,306 people who have been diagnosed with the novel virus. In the U.S. 45,075 deaths have been reported, including 14,887 in New York City, according to Johns Hopkins.
