Released Lake County Jail Detainee Tests Positive For Coronavirus

WAUKEGAN, IL — Medical staff at Lake County Jail are closely monitoring 10 detainees who were housed alongside a former inmate who tested positive for the new coronavirus Wednesday, two days after his release from the facility, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

As of Friday, no one currently detained at the jail has tested positive for COVID-19, and no tests have been conducted on current detainees. Three correctional officers had received tests for the virus due to their activities outside of the jail, and all three tests had come back negative, according to sheriff's office spokesperson Sgt. Chris Covelli.

The former detainee with a confirmed case of coronavirus, a 28-year-old Des Plaines man, arrived at the jail on Feb. 27 and began complaining of flu-like symptoms on April 8, according to a release.

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Staff from the jail's health care contractor, Armor Correctional Health Services, assessed the detainee several times, according to the sheriff's office. His symptoms stabilized and no coronavirus test was performed.

Covelli said staff from the sheriff's office's medical provider reports the condition of every patient they encounter to a physician. It is then up to that doctor whether or not they will order a coronavirus test.

"Based on the mild symptoms observed in the inmate who was released, the medical provider made the determination they were not going to order a COVID-19 test," Covelli said.

The former detainee was released Monday after accepting a plea agreement. The day he left the jail, he had a normal temperature and reported no symptoms.

Two days later, the man checked into a Cook County hospital, where he received a test for COVID-19. He was discharged from the hospital shortly after he was given the test results, according to sheriff's office staff, who say they received confirmation of the diagnosis Thursday.

Since then, 10 other inmates who had been housed in the same area as the Des Plaines man are being monitored by medical personnel. None of them are currently showing COVID-19 symptoms, according to the sheriff's office.

There are also three inmates housed in the medical unit, according to the release. Two of them arrived Thursday. One was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection and the other with an elevated temperature. The other inmate was previously moved to the medical unit after reporting stomach pain.

Sheriff's office staff listed a series of mitigation measures taken since February to reduce the chance of the coronavirus getting into the jail. They include enhanced medical screening for staff and inmates when entering, increased cleaning, decreased the movement of detainees between housing areas and the use of vacant housing to spread them out, setting up a medical segregation area, giving masks to any inmates experiencing illness and having all jail staff use protective equipment.

The sheriff's office has also worked with the courts, prosecutors and public defenders to set up electronic bond hearings where inmates who do not have to post cash bonds can avoid ever entering the jail's general population area, according to the release, and Armor Correctional Health Services continues to work closely with the Lake County Health Department.

The Cook County Jail has become a hot spot for coronavirus, with one of the highest rates of infection in the country. As of Friday, three detainees there had died of COVID-19 complications in recent weeks. Multiple inmates at the Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet have also died, with dozens reportedly hospitalized.