More inmates positive for virus

BENTONVILLE — Eleven more inmates in the Benton County Jail tested positive for covid-19, bringing the total of inmates and employees to 189, according to county officials.

Lt. Shannon Jenkins, spokeswoman for the Sheriff’s Office, said Monday the positive tests are from 50 inmates who had to be retested. The 11 inmates are all asymptomatic.

Jenkins said one jail employee was retested and is positive.

Sheriff Shawn Holloway announced last week 164 inmates tested positive for covid-19, but only one had symptoms and had to be hospitalized. The other 163 inmates are asymptomatic, he said.

The 175 inmates comprise almost half, or 48%, of the jail population.

The hospitalized inmate has underlying health conditions, but Holloway said he wouldn’t provide the medical information.

The inmates who tested positive and are showing no symptoms are being housed together in areas of the jail, Holloway said last week.

There were 366 inmates in the jail Monday. Holloway said last week the Sheriff’s Office began working in March with prosecutors and judges to reduce the jail population. The jail had about 700 inmates in March.

Holloway said last week 13 employees in the jail tested positive and were asymptomatic, and no field deputies tested positive for the virus. Many of the asymptomatic employees are assigned to work in the areas with the asymptomatic inmates.

Jenkins said new detainees are quarantined and monitored by medical staff until they are cleared to move to the general population.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office didn’t have any more positive tests after receiving all the results last week. The Arkansas Health Department tested 40 detainees in the jail and 16 were positive, said Kelly Cantrell, public information officer for the office.

All the tests on detainees and employees at the Washington County Jail were completed, according to a Saturday post on the Washington County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.

Cantrell said no one associated with Washington County’s jail has been hospitalized because of the virus. She said all detainees with positive tests are being held in a quarantine area.