Jail officials take precautions as coronavirus spreads
Washington County jail officials have begun asking people being processed about their health and taking other precautions as reports mount of the potential spread of the pathogen in Pennsylvania.
“We’re asking them those general questions,” Warden Edward Strawn said Wednesday before a meeting of the Washington County Prison Board. “Have you been outside of the country? Have you had contact with someone who’s been outside the country?”
People are admitted to and released from jails like Washington County’s with greater frequency than state and federal prisons. As authorities monitor the spread of the respiratory disease, known scientifically as COVID-19, Strawn said jail officials are making sure to ask new inmates about their general health.
Their temperatures and their answers to the medical questions are recorded to keep track of that information.
The state Department of Corrections includes 24 prisons across Pennsylvania, including SCI Greene near Waynesburg and SCI Fayette in Luzerne Township.
DOC spokeswoman Maria Finn said there are hand sanitizing stations throughout the agency’s facilities, which are monitoring their sick calls. She said staff and visitors who feel sick are urged to stay home.
She said the agency does have plans in case of a pandemic, but right now is following reports from health officials. In the meantime, she stressed the importance of hand washing.
“Right now, we have to monitor,” she said. “We don’t want to overreact, but we don’t want to underreact. We want to prepare.”
Similarly, hand sanitizing is a priority for Washington County commissioners.
Commission Chairman Diana Irey Vaughan said on Thursday that to pay for sanitizing stations, the county is eligible for a community safety grant of up to $20,000 through its insurer, Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool (PCoRP) to cover-safety-related purchase. It was not known that day how much the installations might cost.
“It’s always good to review your policies, and several weeks ago we decided infectious disease was something that needed to be reviewed for the county, not just for our employees, but for individuals who are entering the county to do business,” Irey Vaughan said.
“We’re also working on a plan to be able to have work done remotely, when possible, so if there would be an infectious disease outbreak, essential county functions could continue.
“That plan is being developed” to protect “not just employees, but members of the community.”
The commissioners met one day before Gov. Tom Wolf signed a COVID-19 disaster declaration.
On Friday, the governor’s office confirmed the first two presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania. One is an adult in Wayne County and the other is an adult in Delaware County. Each was described as being at home in isolation. The Wayne County resident traveled abroad where the virus is present. The other individual recently traveled within the United States.
The state can now test for the virus at its lab in Exton, Chester County.
As is typical in a county the size of Washington, county government does not have its own health department but relies on the state.
The Washington County Public Safety Department also works with the Pennsylvania and federal emergency management agencies and local fire and police departments and emergency medical services.
County employees are to receive an email announcement about hand sanitizing.
Commissioner Nick Sherman said care will be taken to wipe elevator interiors, and Irey Vaughan said a vendor can be called in to disinfect premises if needed.
Staff writer Gideon Bradshaw contributed to this story.