Jail’s Coronavirus Precautions Are Paying Off

The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office has been taking precautions to prevent the coronavirus from entering the jail.

“We have not had any cases, the precautions are working very well,” said Captain Ryan Kidwell.

He says the precautions include social distancing, increased handwashing and temperature screenings of staff and inmates.

Captain Kidwell says another way they’ve been able to keep COVID-19 out of the jail is by reducing the jail population.

When the pandemic began the inmate population was in the 120s and it’s now down to 58 by releasing non-violent offenders and placing them on home monitoring or some other type of probation.

He says new inmates are placed in a 14-day isolation as they’re monitored for symptoms of coronavirus.

Captain Kidwell says, because of these efforts, they have not had a single staff member of inmate test positive for COVID-19.

He says during this pandemic, corrections officers have truly lived up to the sheriff’s office mission of being committed to the community while at the same time facing challenges of work-life balance and being frontline and essential employees.