Multiple cases of COVID-19 confirmed among employees at Midlands jail
Nearly a quarter of the employees at a Midlands jail are missing work because either they or a family member have tested positive for COVID-19.
Currently, 10 of the 45 staffers at the Orangeburg-Calhoun Regional Detention Center are in quarantine, Orangeburg County Administrator Harold Young told The State Wednesday.
Seven jail officers have the coronavirus, while contact tracing confirmed three others are caring for family with COVID-19, Young said.
No inmates at the jail have tested positive for the virus “so far,” according to Young. He estimated there are about 200 people currently held at the detention center but said that number frequently fluctuates.
“I want to commend the staff in keeping it away from the inmates,” Young said.
The jail has a quarantine program in place, where any new detainee admitted is placed in isolation for 14 days before being admitted into the general population, according to Young. He said it’s often the case that the people post bond before that isolation expires, usually in a day or two, saying the detention center doesn’t have a large number of long-term inmates.
All employees are required to wear masks, and detainees are given face coverings before being admitted to the jail, Young said.
Of the officers who tested positive for the coronavirus, Young said four self-reported getting sick, while three were asymptomatic and were revealed to have COVID-19 through screening at the detention center.
Two of the officers had to go to an area hospital and were placed on ventilators, according to Young. The county administrator said those officers are recovering, as well as their colleagues who were quarantining at home after testing positive.
“Most are recovered and are in the process of being cleared to return to work,” Young said.
Through Wednesday, 85,423 people in South Carolina are confirmed to have COVID-19, and 1,551 coronavirus-related deaths have been reported by the Department of Health and Environmental Control. In Orangeburg County, 2,026 cases of the virus and 49 deaths have been confirmed, while 277 more positive tests and three deaths have been reported in Calhoun County, health officials said.
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