To prepare for new coronavirus, Whatcom County Jail draws on plans for other diseases
As officials prepare for the spread of the new coronavirus, here’s a look at what the Whatcom County Jail is doing.
Wendy Jones, corrections chief with the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, said officials will draw on their experiences planning for contagious diseases, specifically tuberculosis.
As of Tuesday afternoon, March 3, one person in Whatcom County is being tested for coronavirus, which is officially known as COVID-19.
No one in Whatcom County has tested positive for the respiratory illness as of Tuesday afternoon.
Symptoms include fever, cough and shortness of breath, and may appear two to 14 days after exposure.
Jones, who oversees the jail, explained to The Bellingham Herald how a possible coronavirus case at the 311 Grand Ave. jail in Bellingham would be handled.
To date, no jail inmate or staff has been tested for the coronavirus, according to Jones.
The jail is currently housing around 150 inmates because of ongoing construction projects.
How is the Whatcom County Jail preparing?
Jones: “We have policies and protocols in place for any kind of contagious disease that gets into the jail. Our nursing staff are involved, and we have screening questions we ask before people get into the facility.”
What happens if an inmate becomes ill with what may be coronavirus?
Jones: “For somebody who had symptoms indicative of the coronavirus, they would be isolated as much as they can. They’d be put in a room by themselves at the very least. Nursing would be notified and they would come and do a physical assessment. The offender themselves would be given a mask to wear.
“But we wouldn’t give them (masks) to everybody or all our staff, since based on the information being put out by the CDC, that’s not very practical and does not work very well.”
What other steps would you take?
Jones: “Essentially, we would treat this the same as if we had an active case of tuberculosis in the jail.”
If tests confirm coronavirus, inmates could then be put into a two-room unit that vents directly to the outside air.
Negative-pressure rooms are used in hospitals and medical centers to prevent airborne transmission of a disease from room to room.
“That’s the closest to a negative pressure room that we have. So they’d go there,” Jones said.
“Medical would treat them symptomatically. They’re sick, whether they have influenza, pneumonia or whatever, they’d be getting support and treatment. So we’d treat them symptomatically and then wait to get results and go from there.”
And then what?
Jones: “If they became more ill or sick enough where we could not take care of them, then we’d transfer them to a local hospital.
“We’ve had cases where we have to release the offender from jail, such as when we had an active TB case, but it’s been a number of years, and the health department was involved. The health department would be some of the first folks notified.”
The unit that vents to the outside air, what is it normally used for?
Jones: “It’s an isolation area for folks who are acting out. It’s two cells next door to each other. So it’s one unit that has two cells in it. Originally it was designed as an isolation area for females, because the female population was so low only two cells were dedicated to that.”
