Crime & Safety
Coronavirus: Bristol County Sheriff Extends Visitation Ban
The Bristol County Sheriff's Office Announced Friday its prison and detention center visitation ban will be extended through April 27.
ATTLEBORO, MA — The Bristol County Sheriff's Office announced on Friday that all visitations to inmates and detainees in the county's jails and detention centers has been extended until at least April 27. The initial two-week suspension of visitations were instituted on March 15.
All visitations, with the exception of attorneys and clergy, are suspended for the The House of Correction, Women's Center and ICE Detention Center in Dartmouth, and the Ash Street Jail in New Bedford. Volunteers are also suspended and the staff with access to the prisons have been limited.
"Coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the community," Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson said in a statement. "This decision will limit the number of people coming in and out of our buildings, which will lessen the chance of infection in our facilities."
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The Sheriff's Office said if circumstances change, and the health threat lessens, an adjustment could be made to allow for visitation earlier than April 27.
"I promise the visitations will resume as soon as safely possible," Hodgson said.
Find out what's happening in Attleborofor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Ten more people have died of coronavirus in Massachusetts as cases soared above 3,000, state health officials said Friday. Officials announced 823 more cases, a single-day record. That brought total cases to 3,240. Thirty-five people have died. Cases have skyrocketed amid expanded testing and the ongoing transmission of the virus.
Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday there are 21 laboratories running tests in Massachusetts. A total of 29,371 people have been tested as of midday Friday. Just over 10 percent have tested positive.
There are 685 cases in Middlesex County, 631 in Suffolk County, 393 in Norfolk County and 350 in Essex County. There are 477 cases in Boston and two people have died, while forty have recovered, according to the city.
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