■ Jails step up screening of inmates: ‘Err on the side of safety.’
Va. Beach, Newport News facilities suspend weekend programs
Amid concerns over the coronavirus outbreak, jails officials across Hampton Roads say they are stepping up inmate screening procedures.
And two — Virginia Beach and Newport News — have gone so far as to suspend weekend jail programs entirely.
“We’re taking this very seriously,” Virginia Beach Sheriff Ken Stolle said, explaining his decision last week to tell inmates participating in the city’s weekender program they need not report to the city jail for at least the next few weeks and possibly longer.
“If one case came in here, it would be very hard to contain it,” he said.
Newport News Sheriff Gabe Morgan echoed the sentiment Wednesday after announcing his weekender program and volunteer-taught classes would be suspended through at least April 3.
“A good portion of our inmate population is vulnerable because of existing health issues,” he said. “We have to err on the side of safety.”
The Virginia Beach weekend program — which currently has 88 people enrolled, but has included as many as 200 at a time — allows people who have sentences of 45 days or less to serve their time on the weekends so that they can maintain their jobs. It must be ordered by a judge.
Stolle said judges in the city’s District Court and Circuit Court have agreed not to sentence people into the program while it is on hold. Those currently enrolled will get a chance to finish their sentences at a later date.
The Virginia Beach jail also has stepped up its screening of inmates being booked into the facility and is stocking up on medical supplies.
Each newly admitted inmate is getting their temperature checked, and is being examined for symptoms of the virus, Stolle said. They’re also being questioned about their travel history. The jail averages about 40 newly admitted inmates a day.
Events that typically would allow outsiders to come into the facility — such as tours, and award and retirement ceremonies — also have been suspended.
No other jails in the area have suspended weekend jail programs, but officials in Chesapeake, Norfolk and Portsmouth said they have heightened their screening procedures, are consulting with health officials and are urging everyone in their facilities to follow universal health precautions — such as frequent and thorough hand washing.
The new boss of the Hampton Roads Regional Jail said his staff is also screening inmates who leave for court. If someone develops flu-like symptoms, the jail has special “negative pressure” rooms available to quarantine, said Interim Superintendent Chris Walz.
Virginia Beach recorded its first presumptive positive coronavirus cases on Tuesday, when a married couple who recently returned from a Nile River cruise in Egypt reportedly tested positive.