6 Cuyahoga County Jail Inmates Positive For Coronavirus

CLEVELAND — Six Cuyahoga County jail inmates have tested positive for the new coronavirus and two other inmates are being investigated for the virus, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish confirmed on Friday morning. MetroHealth Medical Center is leading an investigation into how the inmates contracted the virus.

The inmates have all been quarantined to one pod. The group began showing symptoms on Thursday night. They were tested and confirmed positive for COVID-19 overnight.

"We are prepared to handle this. We have a plan in place. These inmates are all in one pod. They are being medically cared for. None are critical. They are quarantined in place," Budish said during a news conference on Friday.

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MetroHealth staff are tracing the inmates and staff who were possibly exposed. Both the county and Cleveland health departments are supporting MetroHealth in the investigation.

The six COVID-19 positive inmates have been in the jail for different stretches of time. The longest incarcerated inmate has been in the jail since July 2019. The most recent admission was placed into the jail in Feb. 2020, Budish said.

"There's no way these inmates brought COVID-19 into the jail," Budish said.

Budish said county officials have been preparing for this eventuality for some time. Over a period of weeks, the Cuyahoga County Sheriffs office, county courts and state prosecutors have been collaborating to reduce the jail population. Since those efforts began, the inmate population has shrunk by 50 percent to 1,050 inmates, Budish said.

The reduced population gives jail officials space to quarantine inmates and to distance inmates.

"We have been screening every inmates and officer who comes into the jail. No personal visitation has been allowed," Budish said.

County officials recently delivered 30,000 gloves and 10,000 surgical masks to jail staff to use as protective equipment.

"COVID-19 is everywhere. It's everywhere. It's impossible to totally escape this terrible disease but we have an excellent team in place. They've worked tirelessly to prepare for just this possibility. We've taken immediate action today," Budish said Friday.

Cuyahoga County had the most COVID-19 cases in Ohio on Thursday afternoon, with 663 confirmed infections. At least 12 Cuyahoga County residents have died due to complications from the virus.