Jail arrested virus, but 2nd wave feared
Cook County Sheriff asks community for help heading off COVID-19 infections
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart on Thursday pleaded with the community to follow public health guidelines for COVID-19 as cases are on the rise again across the state.
At a news conference in front of Cook County Jail, Dart lauded the “heroic” job his staff has done with containing the virus among detainees in their custody.
Illinois health officials on Thursday announced 12,702 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, a new daily record for cases in the state. On Wednesday, officials reported 145 COVID-19 related deaths, themost ina single day since late May.
Earlier this year the sprawling Southwest Side facility had to grapple with the virus when over 700 inmates tested positive during a two-month span, including seven who died, earning the facility a label as a national hot spot.
“The majority of people who are positive at any given moment inside the jail are people who came into the jail positive,” Dart said. “There wasn’t this wild spread going on in the jail.”
Dart was sued in federal court for allegedly failing to stop a “rapidly unfolding public health disaster” at the jail, but has stood by his office’s response. Amongthe steps Dart took were to open an off-site care facility for detainees, move inmates to single cells to improve social distancing, and enhance testing efforts.
As of Wednesday evening, with Cook County and the rest of the state struggling with a new surge in cases, 83 detainees had tested positive at Cook County Jail, along with 64 correctional officers, officials said.
Dr. Connie Mennella, who oversees medical care at the jail, said it’s a “daunt-
ing” task to keep the virus contained among its 5,400 detainees.
“What it took and what it’s taking to keep numbers down is monumental,” she said at Thursday’s news conference.
Detainees are tested when they arrive at the jail, and are then quarantined with people who entered on the same day before being
tested again prior to transitioning into the larger jail population.
Dart said the jail had found a way to safely conduct visitations outside and has a plan for every detainee before they are released.
“We talk to the house they’re going to. We talk to the people in their houses.… We walk them through all the protocols to make sure
their house is safe, their community safe. We are actively educating people about it.”
Despite the jail’s efforts, Dart said they are reliant on the community to be diligent in not spreading the virus to keep their infections down.
“Now we’re asking the public to please, please, please help us,” Dart said. “If
the community is not under control, if the community is not being serious about masks and social distancing … it will impact us negatively.”
Mennella echoed Dart’s concerns.
“We may have barbed wire; we may have brick walls … (but) what happens in the community greatly impacts the jail,” she said.