NORTHAMPTON — A total of 12 inmates at the Hampshire County Jail and House of Correction have now tested positive for COVID-19, Hampshire County Sheriff Patrick J. Cahillane said Friday.
The number of staff members who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus has remained at one, Cahillane said in a statement, as have the number of staff members who have tested negative, which remains at three. Those who tested positive “continue to show improvement and many are nearing full recovery,” according to Cahillane.
Cahillane said the jail is now testing asymptomatic inmates so they can be better informed of status of COVID-19 among people in his facility. On Wednesday, Cahillane announced that the jail has opened a full medical unit dedicated to treating inmates sick with the novel coronavirus.
“My staff and I are monitoring the situation very closely and we continue to intensify our sanitation, education and physical distancing efforts,” Cahillane wrote.
Last week, the jail began offering Zoom video visitations for inmates to maintain close connections with friends and family, according to Cahillane. He said the jail is working out a schedule so that everyone under his custody will have the opportunity for at least one 15-minute video call per week in addition to expanded telephone access that is currently available for inmates.
Since the weather is beginning to improve, Cahillane said, the jail is beginning to implement a “fresh air program for those individuals who are on restricted status at our facility.” This encourages those people to take advantage of the jail’s courtyard area one at a time to take a walk and get fresh air if the weather allows, he said.
The jail was also given a supply of protective masks from the Northampton Fire Department to keep staff safe until other supplies arrived from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and private vendors. On Wednesday, MEMA brought the jail a supply of masks and gowns for the jail’s medical department, and on Friday, the agency provided KN95 masks for officers working directly with the inmates.
Cahillane said he’s also directed his kitchen personnel to continue providing breakfast to the shelter at Northampton High School at least through the end of April.
“As with everything we do, this will be reassessed on an ongoing basis,” Cahillane wrote. “We see the shelter as a valuable community resource and are proud to support it in any way we can.”
The sheriff also reported that the National Guard took down a medical screening tent on the jail’s campus for safety purposes at the beginning of the week. Guardsmen put the tent back up on Wednesday, he said. Cahillane also said that the jail has “ample cleaning supplies for our clients to keep themselves and their areas clean.”
“I am heartened by the level of cooperation shown by everyone in our facility, especially when it comes to cleanliness, physical distancing and wearing protective masks,” he said.
At the end of the statement, Cahillane thanked his workers “for their devotion to duty during these difficult times.”
“To my staff, to all our essential workers out there who are keeping all of our communities going, and to those who are helping stop the virus by staying home, I just wanted to say thank you so much for doing your part during this crisis,” Cahillane wrote.
Michael Connors can be reached at mconnors@gazettenet.com.