- October 29, 2024
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With prisons around Florida experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases, Flagler County’s jail remains calm.
Florida Department of Corrections, which has had 1,589 positive cases of inmates, has banned visitors in state prisons since March 11, and that has been extended through June 28. Free phone calls were offered to state prisoners.
At Flagler’s jail, the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, four inmates with symptoms have been tested, and 25 staff members have been tested. Two staff members were positive, and they have since recovered, according to Daniel M. Engert, chief of Court and Detention Services for the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Engert added that although long-term health care facilities are required to test staff and residents, the Centers for Disease Control does not recommend that jails undergo widespread testing. The onsite medical provider does test as needed.
New Flagler inmates are screened for COVID-19, and, “if anyone is symptomatic, the health department is notified and the inmate is tested for COVID-19 and medically isolated for 14 days,” Engert said. “The FCSO cannot legally mandate every inmate to be tested." Moreover, he added, "Unless 100% of the population voluntarily submitted to testing, the exercise of testing inmates would be futile and would waste resources, as daily testing would be required because the inmate population changes every day.”
Social distancing is an ongoing practice at the jail, Engert said, as well as disinfecting procedures, including high-touch areas every six hours. Employees have their temperatures checked daily and wear masks.
“Our policies and practices for both employees and inmates have proven effective,” he said.
