The Humboldt County Jail and Juvenile Hall have upped their cleaning schedule and heightened their pre-entry screening process in order to prevent any sort of outbreak amongst the incarcerated populations. The new screening process includes asking if the arrestee has recently traveled, or if they’be been in contact with anyone infected with COVID-19 or anyone who presents with the symptoms of the virus, as well as taking their temperature. 

Duane Christian, the correctional captain for the Humboldt County Jail, told the Outpost that they have eliminated all volunteer programs at the jail, stopped the outside work programs for low-level offenders and have taken steps to restrict inmate contact from the outside world. However, visitation will still be allowed at the jail because of the “no-contact” rooms. 

“There is no risk of an inmate contracting the virus through visitation,” Christian said. “The only risk there would be is to the public visitors, but we ensure those areas are cleaned at least daily, if not a couple times a day.”

Christian said there are 387 people currently in the jail with about 92 percent of them being between the ages of 18 and 54. He added that the medical staff inside the jail are closely monitoring the inmates that fall into the more vulnerable categories to COVID-19. If an inmate presents with any sort of symptoms the jail has the ability to isolate them from others. 

“We have medical cells where they could be isolated, where they have less contact with other individuals,” Christian said. “I can’t recall a time where we have had a widespread type of flu where an entire housing unit gets it.”

The jail has seven cells in the medical unit that can hold between one and three people each. Two of the cells are what Christian called “negative airflow rooms,” where someone could be put if they are expected to have tuberculosis or other highly contagious illnesses such as COVID-19.

“If we have someone who is symptomatic and, we thought, required testing, we would isolate them and then continue to work with our medical provider to get them tested,” he said.

At any given time there are at least two medical personnel on site and more during work hours. They are employed by Wellpath, a medical company that provides staff to about 30 county jails across California, Christian said. The inmates have all been warned about the virus and are taking the necessary precautions. The jail has a satisfactory supply of cleaning supplies that includes hand sanitizers and Lysol wipes, among others. All of the sinks in the cells are in working condition and provided with hand soap.

Some jails and prisons across the country have started releasing low-level offenders, but that is not something that is happening here in Humboldt County just yet. 

“It is something we could take into consideration,” Christian said. “There are statutory codes that allow, under certain circumstances, for inmates to be released prior to the completion of their sentence if they are within a certain amount of days.”

Over at Juvenile Hall, similar precautions are taking place. Ray Watson, director of detention services, told the Outpost they too were asking questions and taking the temperatures of any new youth arrestees.

“We are checking them for flu-like symptoms, coughs, fever shortness of breath, those types of things,” Watson said adding that anyone with a temp of 100.4 or higher must get medically cleared before they are allowed into the facility.

There are 15 youth currently inside Juvenile Hall and the Northern California Regional Facility, and they too are being monitored for symptoms. If they present with any of them, they are given an N95 mask and separated from the rest of the group until they are cleared by medical staff. 

Minimizing contact with the outside world is also being done by eliminating all volunteer programs until March 30. Visitation will still be happening though.

“We feel that it is important for youth to be able to stay connected to their parents, but we are screening all of our visitors as well,” Watson said. “We are asking them the same questions and taking their temperatures before they come into the facility.”

The kids have been made aware of what is happening and the staff is relaying information to them. They are told about social distancing and are spaced out during meals. The staff are also abiding by the social distancing recommendations and are cleaning more. 

“Our staff has been directed to wipe down and clean surfaces several times a day,” Watson said. “Our facilities managers made sure that we replenished all of our supplies. We are taking this seriously and making sure the safety of the youth and staff is our main concern.”