WICHITA —The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office was notified Thursday that another inmate had tested positive for COVID19, according to Lt. Tim Myers. This case is not related to the previous cases.
This inmate reported he was sick on Monday, was immediately placed in medical isolation pending the results of the COVID19 test. The inmate was also tested by the contracted medical provider of the Sedgwick County Detention Facility on Monday because he was symptomatic.
The inmate was released from custody prior to officials receiving the positive test results on Thursday, according to Myers.
Based on the advice from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, our contracted medical provider will offer testing to 27 staff members and 78 inmates that had possible contact with the inmate.
Seventy-six inmates will be quarantined until they are medically cleared. Two inmates that were symptomatic were already tested and placed in medical isolation.
Four inmates were released from the Sedgwick County Detention Facility prior to the inmate receiving the positive test results. KDHE will be contacting those individuals.
The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office will also be contacting judges, members of the DA’s office, and defense attorneys about the positive test result.
Officials at the jail are continuing to maintain sanitization standards to take care of our staff and inmates which include issuing extra soap, and having disinfectant available as needed. All staff members have been issued masks to wear, and all inmates have been issued face coverings for the last several months. We also have a full medical staff on site.
If more inmates need to be quarantined or isolated, we already have an established plan to minimize further exposure to staff and inmates.