People will soon be able to visit their incarcerated loved ones again.

More than a month after the Humboldt County jail suspended public visitations due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office announced today that it expects to reopen the jail to visitations sometime within the next two weeks.

“As the state and county move into Phase Two of the Stay at Home Order, the Correctional Facility is planning to reopen visitation within the next two weeks, following facial covering, sanitization and social distancing guidelines,” the HCSO stated on social media this afternoon. “Further information regarding reopening visitation will be released in the coming days.”

New arrestees will continue to be separated from their fellow inmates for the first 14 days of their incarceration. The HCSO says that these new inmates are periodically given full health screenings during this time to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within the Humboldt County jail.

Read more from the Sheriff’s Office:

Recently, several Humboldt County Correctional Deputies were tested for COVID-19 as a precautionary measure to ensure our incarcerated population remains virus free. All deputies tested were negative for the virus.

“During this unprecedented time, it can be extremely challenging for the families of individuals still incarcerated who worry that their loved one will become infected while in our facility,” Humboldt County Correctional Facility Captain Duane Christian said. “The Sheriff’s Office is taking every precaution to protect our incarcerated population and staff members.”

In addition to precautionary testing, all staff working around the incarcerated population are required to wear a facial covering as outlined in the recent health order. All newly incarcerated individuals are separated from the main jail population for the first fourteen days of incarceration. They are given a full health screening upon arriving at the jail, are checked periodically and are screened at the end of the fourteen days to ensure they are symptom free prior to being housed in general population dorms.

As the state and county move into Phase Two of the Stay at Home Order, the Correctional Facility is planning to reopen visitation within the next two weeks, following facial covering, sanitization and social distancing guidelines. Further information regarding reopening visitation will be released in the coming days.

For more information about the Humboldt County Correctional Facility, visit humboldtsheriff.org.