SARASOTA – The Delta variant is spreading quickly across the state of Florida – and recent reports from inmates inside Sarasota County jail say they too are seeing an outbreak of the virus.
SNN spoke to family members of two inmates that wished to remain anonymous for this report for safety concerns.
They say that inmates inside the county jail have been testing positive for COVID-19 – and that enough is not being done to prevent a large scale outbreak.
Inmates inside the Sarasota County jail are calling it a “COVID-19 outbreak” inside the walls of the county jail that has inmates and their loved ones concerned over their safety.
Inmates are calling their families worried that proper measures aren’t being taken after reports of several inmates and staff members testing positive for the coronavirus.
With speculation amongst the inmates that the recent outbreak began within the kitchen staff.
“They’re pulling people from other floors to work in the kitchen and they’re contaminating the whole jail because they are not sanitizing anything,” said an inmates wife.
The inmates wife says her husband is reporting that not enough is being done to prevent the virus from spreading not even going into a lock down.
“The way it’s spreading is – you’ve got to leave to go from your cell block to go to medical and get your food,” she said.
Another viewers reached out to SNN after getting similar reports from his son.
“He’s telling me that there is an outbreak of COVID in three pods and there is 40 inmates per pod,” he said. “So it’s 120 inmates that are presently in quarantine because there is a COVID outbreak and the jail is overcrowded.”
The inmates tells his father that 85% of the jail is under quarantine for the next month.
“They still have rights, their life’s matter also,” said the inmates wife.
Both family members say they want transparency from jail officials and find themselves hesitant to trust information coming from staff after a similar COVID outbreak inside the jail last summer.
“I believe that the families of the inmates should be informed of the status what’s going on in the jails as far as medical and health issues,” said the inmates father.
According to the Sarasota County jail spokeswoman “there are five inmates currently housed at our correctional facility who have tested positive for COVID-19. Two of the five were positive upon intake, meaning they presumably contracted the illness elsewhere. The other three were already in custody when they tested positive. Of the five inmates, four are exhibiting symptoms. One is exhibiting no symptoms. We have 42 total housing units within the facility, four of which are currently in isolation. At this time, we have 13 corrections deputies who have tested positive and as such, are not at work. We are monitoring the facility and ensuring the appropriate COVID-19 procedures are in place.”
