The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office was notified Friday morning one of its Corrections Division employees has tested positive for COVID-19. Per Hamilton County Jail guidelines, the employee is at home under isolation order from the Hamilton County Health Department.
Jail personnel are currently working with Health Department personnel to currently track all inmates and personnel who may have come into contact with the employee to determine if there was any exposure.
The HCSO and the Hamilton County Health Department are currently working on implementing a second round of facility wide testing to include all employees and inmates.
Officials said, "The HCSO continues to work hand in hand with our contracted medical services provider to ensure we are utilizing best practices to mitigate potential exposure."
Hamilton County Sheriff Jim Hammond stated, “I would like to reassure the public and those who may have family or friends incarcerated in the jail that our personnel are going to great lengths to follow CDC guidelines and sanitize the facility on a consistent basis. The Sheriff’s Office is continuing to work with Health Department and Erlanger Medical personnel to safeguard the health of our inmates and personnel due to COVID-19.
With the extraordinary number of inmate movements and individuals working inside the jail on a daily basis, we are fortunate and thankful we have only had one inmate previously and now currently one employee test positive to date within this facility since the beginning of this global pandemic.”
The Hamilton County Jail has a capacity of 505 beds and there are 293 inmates being housed in the facility.
In addition to this information, the HCSO has been notified by CoreCivic administration COVID-19 testing for all Silverdale Detention Facility employees and inmates is scheduled to begin Wednesday.
CoreCivic Public Relations personnel will release the results once they have been received in their entirety.