#Virginia jail on lockdown after 124 inmates, 20 staffers get COVID-19

A Virginia jail is on lockdown after more than 100 inmates and nearly two dozen employees tested positive for the coronavirus.

Of the 178 inmates who were “deemed necessary” for testing, 124 came back with positive results Tuesday after drive-thru examinations were conducted Saturday, WHSV reported.

At least a dozen results are still pending and most of the inmates are asymptomatic, according to the report.

Of the facility’s 129 employees, 20 have also tested positive for the contagion. Three test results are pending — and those employees are quarantining and on emergency paid leave.

Officials have narrowed the outbreak to a specific pod at the jail, said Dr. Tom Franck, director of the Chickahominy Health District in Virginia, according to ABC News.

“It’s virtually impossible to stop outbreaks from occurring within facilities of these types,” Franck said during a news conference. “When you have a congregated setting like this and you’ve got people sharing bathrooms and sharing space together, it’s almost inevitable that you’re going to get outbreaks.”

While it’s unclear how the virus spread throughout the 127,000-square-foot jail, superintendent James Willett said two employees tested positive on Aug. 20, as did a jail contractor on Aug. 28, according to ABC.

About 200 other inmates will be tested in the coming days, he said.

The jail has had strict prevention protocols in place since March — including medical screenings for the newest inmates, who must quarantine for two weeks before being moved to the general population, Willett said.