Miller County Detention Center has first two coronavirus cases

TEXARKANA, Ark. — Two inmates in the Miller County Detention Center have tested positive for COVID-19.

The two inmates developed symptoms associated with an upper respiratory illness and were transported to an area medical facility for treatment. Both tested positive for COVID-19, said Chief Deputy Mark Lewis.

Other inmates and staff have since been tested, said Sheriff Jackie Runion.”We are doing a lot of testing. I just got tested myself this morning” Runion said.

Runion said jail administrators and staff have been “diligent” about precautions against COVID.

“We started really early taking precautions. It’s taken a lot of work to hold out this long but I always knew it was inevitable. A lot of younger people are getting it now,” Runion said.

Segregation and isolation protocols remain in effect in the Miller County Detention Facility. Inmate population is checked and monitored three times daily. Staff is checked daily, Lewis said.

Warden Jeffie Walker said earlier this year that the precautions are similar to what’s done during flu season “but stepped up a notch.”

The Miller County Detention Center employs a full-time registered nurse, three licensed vocational nurses and one psych nurse, Walker said.

Some of the practices used in the jail come from Texas Department of Corrections and Arkansas Department of Corrections, Walker said.

New inmates that are booked into jail are also having their temperatures taken and are asked questions from a virus screening form that also covers flu symptoms.