Nine detainees test positive for COVID at Black River lock-up

Sharlene Hendricks/Staff Reporter

Quarantine conditions remain in effect at the Black River and Santa Cruz police stations to cauterise an outbreak of suspected COVID-19 infections, with nearly one-third of them confirmed as positive.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Rohan Elliot told The Gleaner this morning that of the 45 persons in custody at the Black River station, nine have since tested positive.

Test results for other persons in lock-up are still pending.

Elliot said they were also awaiting results for the 16 civilians who are currently in lock-up at the Santa Cruz police station.

A medical team from the St Elizabeth Health Department was dispatched to the two locations after inmates started presenting with flu-like symptoms last week.

Superintendent Dwight Daley, head of the St Elizabeth Police Division, told The Gleaner last week Friday that the holding capacity at both stations was nine inmates to a cell.

That number, however, has since been reduced to five under quarantine conditions, according to Elliot.

“The quarantine period has not yet ended. We are still under quarantine and the medical team would have come in and tested all prisoners, so we are now waiting on the results, but there are no new cases at the moment," the deputy superintendent disclosed.

Elliot reaffirmed that the outbreak had not impacted operations at either station.

“The staff is still up and running. We have a few members who reported sick with flu-like symptoms, but only the persons in lock-up have tested positive so far," he said.

sharlene.hendricks@gleanerjm.com

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