Friday, Oct. 16, 2020 | 4:52 p.m.
A coronavirus outbreak has hit the Las Vegas city jail with 43 out of 91 inmates in one unit testing positive, officials said today.
Inmates in the wing were placed in quarantine and are being cared for by medical staff, officials said.
The jail, which overall averages about 500 inmates each day, had only 12 positive tests before the recent outbreak, officials said.
Officials said that although new inmates are tested when they’re booked, an inmate who tested negative, and was released to the general population, later tested positive after being transferred to the Clark County Detention Center.
“The city believes the inmate who tested positive was carrying the virus when booked into the facility but most likely tested negative because the disease had not yet had time to progress fully,” officials said in a statement.
After the positive test, the unit where the inmate was housed was placed on quarantine. When another inmate showed symptoms, the remaining people in the unit were tested, which led to the 43 positive tests, officials said.
“To prevent this from happening in the future, the city is imposing a more extended quarantine period,” officials said. “In addition, the city is looking to increase testing parameters within its entire jail facility.”
