Four Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office correctional deputies and an asymptomatic inmate have tested positive for COVID-19.
Spokesman John Mowell says while correctional officers have tested positive in the past, this is the first case of an inmate within the center testing positive. The inmate has been incarcerated at the jail since January, Mowell says.
All four officers were tested after reporting fevers, according to Mowell.
The deputies and the inmate were immediately placed under quarantine and are following COVID-19 protocols recommended by the Louisiana Department of Health and the CDC, the sheriff’s department said in a press release.
LPCC says in the release that it has mitigated the risk of spread during this pandemic by:
- mandating masks and temperature check for any individual, offender or staff member who enters the facility;
- quarantining all inmates booked into the LPCC for at least 14 days;
- requiring any individual who has a fever and/or exhibits any symptoms of COVID-19 be transported to a healthcare facility to be evaluated and medically cleared before booking; and
- frequent sanitization throughout the facilityIn addition to these best practices, free voluntary COVID-19 testing was offered onsite by the National Guard to all LPCC inmates and Sheriff’s Office employees.