St. Louis County Government: Coronavirus Cases Drop Dramatically At Justice Center

Press release from the St. Louis County Government:

January 21, 2022

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MO - A month after reporting that 110 residents at the Buzz Westfall Justice Center had tested positive for COVID-19, the number of cases at the jail is now 27.

“We have worked hard to monitor symptoms, provide regular testing and keep residents who tested positive away from the rest of the population,” said Acting Director Scott Anders.

The current jail population is 868. Of those, 27 have tested positive and seven are symptomatic, awaiting test results.

A month ago, 30 of the 240 Justice Center staff had tested positive for COVID. On Friday, there was one employee out with COVID.

Eighty-one percent of jail staff are vaccinated. About 30 percent of residents are vaccinated. This number changes frequently as people are released and booked into the Justice Center each day.

No detainees or employees have experienced serious symptoms from the virus or required hospitalization, Anders said.

The Justice Center put COVID-19 protocols in place early in the pandemic. They include COVID-19 testing during the health screening at intake. All detainees are offered vaccines and the population is regularly tested.

“Outbreaks have occurred in jails across the U.S., and we experienced that as well,” Anders said. “We are hopeful that our numbers will continue to decline as we work to keep our employees and residents safe.”

Cases across St. Louis County remain extremely high. The positivity rate is 34.3 percent and average daily cases are at 1,776.

This press release was produced by the St. Louis County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.