ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Similar to what’s happening across the St. Louis area, the St. Louis County jail is experiencing a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases. Both inmates and employees have reported positive test results.
“Outbreaks in jails are happening across the U.S. and we knew it was eventually going to impact our employees and residents,” Acting Director Scott Anders said.
As of Thursday, 110 inmates at the Buzz Westfall Justice Center have tested positive. That comes out to about 13% of the 825 people in the jail’s current population. An additional 30 detainees have symptoms and are waiting for test results, and 30 others are in quarantine after being exposed to the virus.
About 40% of inmates are fully vaccinated, St. Louis County officials said in a news release Thursday.
As for the justice center staff members, 30 out of 240 have tested positive for COVID-19. The vaccination rate among jail employees is about 65%, and the remaining workers comply with the county’s weekly testing requirement.
No inmates or employees have experienced serious symptoms, the county said, and no one has been hospitalized.
“With the new variant, we have seen a swift uptick in cases after going several weeks with just a few cases per day,” Anders said. “The safety of our employees and those in our care is our top priority. Medical staff from the Department of Public Health is housed at the Justice Center so we are able to closely monitor staff and residents.”
Beginning Thursday, the county has put a two-week hold on taking detainees to court. Instead, hearings will be held virtually.
Rising COVID cases in St. Louis also have the city courts postponing all jury trials scheduled for next week. The court will continue to seat grand jurors to hear cases under strict COVID protocols.
COVID cases in St. Louis County have been surging since around the holidays, with new case rates breaking records for the past several days.
As of Thursday, the county is averaging 2,104 new cases every day. The positivity rate for the past week is now up to 32.5%, according to the St. Louis County health department’s COVID-19 dashboard.
The St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force Wednesday described the omicron-fueled surge as “the nightmare scenario we feared,” with hospitals experiencing record numbers of COVID-19 patients while dealing with staffing shortages.
