2 Inmates, 3 Workers At Travis County Jail Coronavirus Positive

TRAVIS COUNTY, TX — Two additional inmates at the Travis County Jail tested positive for the coronavirus along with three more cases emerging among the employee ranks, officials revealed Monday.

A Travis County Jail spokesperson said both of the inmates testing positive were released on bond, which is the reason no inmates are listed as being held in the Quarantined-Confirmed Positive Unit.

The three employees testing positive for the virus were categorized as being members of the law enforcement and corrections bureau, but the jail spokesperson stressed the former does not mean the employer is a deputy nor does the latter indicate the affected worker is a corrections officer. "All bureaus are made up of both sworn and civilian employees," the spokesperson noted.

Jail officials released statistics related to the spread of coronavirus at the county jail as of Monday:

• Total Jail Population: 1,864.
• Inmates in Quarantine: 16.
• Inmates in Quarantine — confirmed positive: 0.
• Inmates in Isolation: 290.

Jail officials also released overall totals related to COVID-19 tests at the facility:

Inmates

• 1,063 tested.
• 1,013 negative.
• 53 positive.
• 6 pending.

Officials noted that inmates are tested at the discretion of the treating physician.

Travis County Sheriff's Office Employees

Law enforcement

• Tested: 103.
• Negative: 86.
• Positive: 17.
• Pending: 0.

Corrections

• Tested: 325.
• Negative: 271.
• Positive: 51.
• Pending: 3.

Administrative/support

• Tested: 112.
• Negative: 89.
• Positive: 22.
• Pending: 1.

Jail officials also provided a description of its jargon used in connection to illness reports:

• Quarantine: Confirmed Positive houses only those inmates who have tested positive for the virus. The inmates are housed in single-occupancy cells and are seen twice a day by medical professionals.
• Isolation: All newly booked, (healthy) inmates are held in single-occupancy cells for the first 10-14 days as another layer of protection to keep COVID-19 from entering our general population. If an inmate doesn’t show symptoms within that 10-14 day time period, our medical staff is more confident that it’s safe to introduce that person into the general population. We implemented this process on March 30th with approval from Texas Commission on Jail Standards.