COVID-19 Outbreak At Lake County Jail Infects 24 With Mild Cases

WAUKEGAN, IL — More than 20 COVID-19 infections have been detected at Lake County Jail since Saturday, authorities said.

Jail officials began imposing outbreak protocols over the weekend after three correctional officers and four inmates tested positive for the coronavirus.

Inmates in different housing units are kept apart, programming and face-to-face visits are canceled, and N-95 face masks are used when detainees move about the facility, according to a spokesperson for the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

By Tuesday morning, a total of eight correctional officers and 18 inmates had tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. None of the infections have included serious symptoms, Deputy Chief Chris Covelli said in an email.

"Everyone has experienced mild symptoms in some fashion. Some flu-like, some just loss of taste and/or smell, some with a runny nose," Covelli said.

At least three of the inmate's infections were breakthrough cases, but the deputy chief was unable to say how many of the correctional officers have been vaccinated.

"At this time, this information is not being tracked due to privacy restrictions," Covelli said, explaining jail staff have had numerous opportunities to get vaccinated since COVID-19 vaccines became available.

"Thus far, we have left it up to our personnel on deciding whether or not they wish to become vaccinated. We have encouraged those in doubt to work with their primary care physician and make an informed decision," he added. "We continue to collaborate with the Illinois Sheriff's Association, National Sheriff's Association, Illinois Chiefs of Police Association, and others to determine the best course of action on mandated versus non-mandated vaccinations for our staff. Additionally, we are having conversations with the eight unions representing various groups of employees within the office."

There are currently 451 people being held at the Lake County Jail. All have had the opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccination, officials said.

Since vaccinations for detainees began in May, 280 doses have been provided to inmates, according to the deputy chief.

Patch asked a spokesperson for the Lake County Health Department whether the infections in the jail outbreak would be tested for the new omicron variant. Any information received will be added here.

In state prisons, while Gov. J.B. Pritzker has issued an executive order mandating that staff be vaccinated against or test negative for COVID-19, his administration announced last month it had reached an "impasse at the bargaining table" for employees at the Illinois Department of Corrections, or IDOC, and the Illinois Department of Juvenile Justice, or DJJ, who are represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, or AFSCME.

State officials announced plans to submit to interest arbitration for about 10,300 security employees at IDOC and DJJ.

For 1,900 AFSCME-represented non-security employees, the deadline was Tuesday to have received a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine "in accordance with state law," the governor's office announced.

The union representing 260 supervisory employees in state prisons and juvenile detention facilities has already come to an agreement with Pritzker's administration.

In Cook County, the sheriff's office announced plans for a staff vaccine mandate but indefinitely postponed the deadline for implementation, which had been the middle of last month. Negotiations are continuing with the Teamsters, who represent correctional officers at Cook County Jail; the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents Cook County sheriff's police; AFSCME, which represents senior jail officers, and Service Employees International Union and Coalition of Unionized Public Employees, which both represent civilian staff.

"The Sheriff’s Office has made no changes to its current guidelines regarding the COVID-19 staff vaccine mandate, but enforcement has been delayed as we continue to engage in impact negotiations with labor organizations that represent our staff," spokesperson Matt Walberg said in a statement. "During this time, the Office continues to offer free vaccines to staff and strongly encourages every employee to be vaccinated. Currently, more than 77% of Sheriff’s Office staff are vaccinated – up from 58% when the mandate was announced in September."