MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – An outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) inside the Macomb County Jail has forced the isolation of nearly 150 inmates.
The jail will now be testing every single person coming into the jail even if they don’t have any symptoms. Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham said they’ve done their best to keep COVID-19 out of the jail.
The medical staff started rapid testing and of 250 people tested, 143 tests came back positive. The people who are positive have to be quarantined, fortunately the population is considerably low. Only one person has been hospitalized.
That’s because through the pandemic, there have been early releases granted or people released with a GPS tether. Wickersham said at one point they only had 215 inmates. Wickersham said if the jail was at full capacity there would be a problem.
All the jails in Metro Detroit are handling COVID-19 differently.
Oakland County has a quarantine for 10 days, then a test. Wayne County gives inmates two tests when they arrive. Macomb County is now changing so tests happen immediately instead of waiting through a quarantine period.
Watch the video above for the full report.
Whitmer order requires COVID-19 testing in Michigan prison, jails
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed an executive order Saturday requiring jails and prisons to test inmates for COVID-19 when they enter, transfer from or are released from their facilities.
The order also requires jails to adopt testing protocols comparable to those at the Michigan Department of Corrections before they can transfer prisoners to state facilities.