Covid cases rising at Allegheny County Jail

In the past week, 83 people in the Allegheny County Jail have tested positive for covid-19 — with a number of them believed to be attributable to spread by a staff member, officials said Friday.

From Aug. 5-12, the county said it conducted 973 rapid tests to new arrestees and others exhibiting symptoms or known to have recent exposure to the virus.

Of those, 55 people tested positive. An additional number of positive tests came from a pod, the county said, where the virus is believed to have spread from a staff member.

The current population at the jail is 1,713. Increasing numbers in the jail, the county said, are reflective of trends in the public, as the delta variant continues to spread.

According to the county, 49% of all jail employees are full vaccinated, and 47% of the incarcerated population is fully vaccinated. Overall, in Allegheny County, about 68% of adults are fully vaccinated.

County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said last week about two-thirds of all county employees are vaccinated.

Last week, Fitzgerald said that all new hires for the county are now required to be vaccinated. Current county employees who remain unvaccinated will be required to wear masks at work and be tested for covid-19 at least once a week, he said.

The jail continues to follow mitigation measures to reduce the spread, including using rapid tests on all incoming detainees, officials said. Anyone who tests positive is placed on isolation status.

In addition, masking is mandatory in the jail.

A county news release said, too, that the court system continues to work to review cases where defendants were given monetary bonds to see if they are eligible for a bond reduction.