FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ohio -- Two inmates at the Franklin County Corrections Center II have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The Franklin County Sheriff's Office says on April 5, staff placed a male inmate at the Jackson Pike facility into quarantine after he showed symptoms for the coronavirus. The next day, a second inmate was also placed into quarantine.
Both inmates were tested. The Franklin County Sheriff's Office received the test results late Friday night.
Both of the inmates have remained in isolation and are in recovery, the sheriff's office says.
The jail has also quarantined a small group of inmates within the same unit. None of these inmates are currently showing symptoms for the coronavirus.
Healthcare workers are checking the health of the inmates, including taking their temperatures two times each day.
Since early last month, authorities say the jail has taken several steps to ensure cleanliness at the facility.
These measures released in the statement from the sheriff's office include:
- Thoroughly cleaning and disinfecting all work/common areas before and after each shift
- Enhanced medical screenings for new inmates, and increased temperature screenings for inmates and staff
- Deliveries of Personal Protective Equipment, or PPE, including N95 masks, disposable examination gloves, Tyvec bodysuits, and shoe covers
- Deliveries of bleach, disinfectant cleaners, spray bottles, and hand sanitizer
- Reduction of the total jail population by more than 500-inmates charged with a non-violent, low-level offenses
- All arrestees now processed at a single facility, Franklin County Corrections II-Jackson Pike
- Identified quarantine locations at both facilities, including negative air pressure single cells to isolate ill inmates safely
The sheriff's office says officials have also worked to lessen the jail's population because of concerns about the coronavirus outbreak. The population at the jail has dropped by close to 33 percent.