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CHICAGO (CBS) – Officials announced Saturday that Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart tested positive for the coronavirus.
He’s not sure where he contracted COVID-19, but for months Dart has been trying to keep cases under control at the Cook County Jail. And as reported by CBS News’ Adriana Diaz, Dart claimed to have been successful despite a recent hike.
This spring, more than 300 inmates had COVID-19 at the Cook County Jail and cases were increasing. The medical director, Dr. Connie Mennella, was supposed to keep them alive.
“I described it earlier as a war, and we were in this fog of war,” Mennella said of the conditions at the start of the outbreak.
In the war against COVID in prison, Mennella and Dart are the commanders. They saw the virus ravage their ranks and take 12 lives: eight inmates and four employees.
“There was no playbook. It was a killer, “Dart said,” and so we were making things up as we went along. “
Improvisation worked. As the Chicago curve rose to the top this spring, the prison fell off a cliff. When we visited in August, there were only 15 cases.
Diaz: “I read you said we didn’t just bend the curve.”
Dart: “We blew up the curve. I mean, there are no curves. “
Diaz: “How did you do?”
Dart: “From the beginning we decided that we would be guided by science.”
And they went all in – with the universal mask and temperature controls. A total of 1,500 inmates were released early – partly due to pressure from inmate supporters – which helped reduce the population.
Meanwhile, closed buildings have also been opened to spread out the rest of the inmates.
But on-site rapid test machines proved to be the most powerful weapon. New inmates are tested and, regardless of their test results, they are all quarantined.
“This was a huge part of our containment,” Dart said. “If you are new, take the test. If you come back from a hospital, get tested. If you come back from other counties, take the test. Try, try, try. We are doing a lot of testing. “
The real-time tests allowed for real-time reaction, which prison officials believe saved lives.
Inmate Santa Paz, who was arrested on firearms charges, tested positive at the height of the outbreak.
Paz: “The headaches were really bad. So, you know, and then the people around me who are even sicker. “
Diaz: “Are you nervous knowing that you are around so many people in a tight space in a pandemic?”
Paz: “It scares me a little bit, because if one guy gets sick, everyone else will get sick. We try to put social distances into practice, but where I am is rather difficult. “
“There isn’t this wild spread going on in prison, no,” Dart said recently. “This has been contained and under control for months.”
But now that Chicago, like much of the country, is witnessing huge spikes in COVID cases, positive cases in prison have quadrupled in the past two weeks. The prison positivity rate is now around 4%, up from 2% this summer.
“We may have barbed wire. We may have brick walls. They are porous, “Mennella said.” What happens in the community has a strong impact on the prison. We have COVID fatigue and this has allowed this virus to take hold. “
In this latest wave, the sheriff and doctor fear they won’t be able to keep the virus out to protect their inmates inside.
Earlier this month, Dart suspended in-person visits to the prison due to the recent increase in cases.
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