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The number of inmates at Cook County Jail “currently positive” for COVID-19 appears to have stabilized after a month-long surge that peaked on Friday.
According to Sheriff Tom Dart’s office, as of Sunday evening, 227 inmates and 72 prison officers were positive for COVID. The inmates include five hospitalized in local hospitals.
COVID-positive inmates peaked at 267 on Friday before dropping off on both Saturday and Sunday. The number began a rapid rise in early November after hovering in the low two digits for five months.
Since the start of the pandemic, eight inmates and four prison officers have died from the coronavirus, according to Dart’s office. They include inmate Harold Graszer, 85, who died after his transfer to Stroger hospital on November 16.
Dart himself was infected this month. A statement from his office on Saturday said he began to feel symptoms on November 20, that he “immediately quarantined” and was convalescing at home. His office had no updates on his condition on Sunday.
A little more than a week before getting sick, Pleaded Dart with the community and leaders of other government units to help slow the spread of the virus in prison. Then him in-person visits suspended in prison as COVID-19 infections increased within the facility.
This spring, the prison had one of the biggest COVID-19 outbreaks in the country, a distinction that led to Dart unwanted attention by the media including the New York Times.
Lawyers for the detainees filed a federal class action lawsuit that forced the sheriff to take further steps to prevent transmission of the virus. Dart insisted that his office was on top of the problem and that court intervention was counterproductive.
Dart and other officials, meanwhile, have taken steps to reduce the number of detainees.
By Friday, however, they had allowed the prison population to rise to 5,432, near the pre-pandemic level.
At the county temporary juvenile detention center, meanwhile, at least 63 residents had tested positive for the virus as of Wednesday, according to chief judge Timothy Evans’ office. Those include at least 23 during the previous month.
The virus has also hit JTDC staff members hard. At least 73 people working at that West Side facility tested positive during the pandemic, including at least 19 in the past month.
Chip Mitchell reports from WBEZ’s West Side Police Study. Follow him up @ ChipMitchell1. Contact him at [email protected].
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