Three Coronavirus Cases Discovered In Testing At Jail County Jail

WAUKEGAN, IL — A first round of comprehensive coronavirus testing at the Lake County Jail produced three positive results from people who had no symptoms of COVID-19, county officials announced Friday.

One inmate, one correctional officer and one contractor tested positive for the virus out of about 600 people who either work at the jail or are detained inside it, according to representatives of the Lake County Health Department and the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

“Identifying only three cases among 600 people tested demonstrates the effectiveness of our collaborative effort with the Sheriff’s Office and the mitigation measures that they put in place this spring,” said Mark Pfister, executive director of the health department, in a statement announcing the results.

The single infected inmate had recently arrived at the jail and was being held inside its "quarantine pod" for two weeks but has since been placed in medical isolation, according to the sheriff's office. The contract employee and correctional officer are both self-isolating at home.

This week's test results bring the total number of positive cases associated with the jail to 19, including 10 correctional officers, seven inmates and an administrative assistant since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. All other cases have fully recovered and all other sheriff's office employees have returned to work.

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Sheriff John Idleburg's office said all staff will undergo another round of follow-up testing at the jail next week. A group of 28 inmates who had close contact with the inmate who tested positive will also be tested, but they will also be required to quarantine for a further 14 days to minimize the risk of spreading the virus in the jail.

“As I have said many times, it is an absolute priority of mine to keep our employees and jail inmates safe," Idleburg said. "We implemented a very robust mitigation program at the onset of COVID-19, and the hard work continues to pay off. We continue doing everything we can to keep COVID-19 out of our jail.”

Pfister said it is vital for people who work at the facility to understand how to avoid contracting the coronavirus while off the job to prevent them from bringing it inside the jail.

“Our next step is increasing education efforts for staff and contractors at the jail to reinforce the message that even interactions with your most trusted friends, co-workers and family members can lead to COVID-19 infection," the health department director said, "and that can have serious ramifications when providing services in a congregate facility.”