Catawba ​Coronavirus: Outbreaks Reported In Jail, Nursing Home

CATAWBA COUNTY, NC — Catawba County Public Health is investigating two new outbreaks of the coronavirus in an assisted living home and in the Catawba County Detention Facility.

In a news release Monday, the public health department said it was alerted to the outbreak in the county jail on Thursday. The department was informed that six inmates and nine staff members tested positive for the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

According to the release, two inmates with the coronavirus remain in the facility. Inmates who have tested positive, along with those who were exposed to the virus, have been quarantined.

The health department said the jail's on site medical team is monitoring the situation. Meanwhile, sick staffers and those who were exposed are being monitored and placed under self-isolation as needed.

The Catawba County Public Health department is also investigating an outbreak in an assisted living facility called Trinity Village.

According to a Monday release from the department, two residents and three staff members have tested positive for the coronavirus in the facility.

The Trinity Village outbreak represents the ninth congregate living outbreak in Catawba County since the pandemic began. Outbreaks are defined as two or more lab-confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

According to the release, the care facility is working with the public heath department to help control the spread of the virus by separating patients, delivering meals to individual living spaces and practicing cleaning and disinfection measures that kill the virus.

The facility was working on Monday afternoon to inform residents, family members and staff of the outbreak.