UPDATE: The print version of this story only mentioned the first two jail workers who tested positive. The story has been updated to reflect the additional 5 cases discovered on Monday.
On Friday, May 1, the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office announced in a press release that two workers at the Yavapai County Detention Center in Camp Verde recently tested positive for COVID-19, and one of them had died.
“It is with great sadness the sheriff’s office announces the death of a part-time contract employee and counselor who worked for Wexford Health Sources in the Camp Verde detention center,” YCSO wrote. “This employee was assigned to the Restore to Competency program. The employee passed away on April 27, 2020, after several days in the hospital under treatment for various medical concerns. During his hospital stay, he was tested for COVID-19, in part due to his age. On the day following his death, April 28, 2020, test results came back positive.”
The other employee was involved in the release program, and has probably not had extensive interactions with the inmate population, though the county is trying to contact trace individuals he may have interacted with outside the jail.
On Monday, May 4, YCSO announced that testing had revealed an additional 5 workers had contracted the virus.
“Since the original media release, 5 additional COVID-19 cases involving detention employees have been confirmed,” YCSO wrote in a follow-up press release. “A majority of the employees who tested positive noted that symptoms were relatively minor with at least one appearing asymptomatic. Contact tracing for those quarantined employees is underway and includes detention staff, inmates, and family member’s if necessary. Currently, no inmates have tested positive.”
According to Dwight Develyn, spokesman for the YCSO, the agency believes only four inmates directly interacted with the counselor from WHS. The jail is isolating and testing those four inmates, in addition to others who may have potentially been in contact.
“There’s already a quarantine section that’s been set aside in the jail just for this issue,” Develyn said. “[If they test positive] they’ll be quarantined immediately. Of course, if they’re symptomatic they’re tested anyway. That’s been the case for weeks …. We have had some tests come back. It’s been all negative for inmates.”
COVID-19 cases within the detention center are being treated as an especially high risk, due to the close quarters and high populations within the jail. The YCSO has been working with the county prosecutor’s office as well as the Yavapai County Superior Court to limit the jail population as much as possible, avoiding jail for low-level offenses. According to Develyn, the jail’s daily population is close to 400, as opposed to usually being between 525 and 550.
The county has also made efforts to provide masks and keep the jail sanitized. As of press time, YCSO has not seen any indication of the virus’ spread within the jail.
“We’re just trying to stay on top of this,” Develyn said. “We’ve been very fortunate. A lot of jails haven’t been as successful.”
