[IMAGE CREDIT: Lake County Sheriff’s Office]
[Original Publish Date: 06/12/20]
TAVARES, Florida — Fifty-seven Lake County Jail inmates have tested positive for COVID-19, said Lake County Sheriff’s Lt. John Herrell said in a press release Friday.
On June 4, two female inmates started showing symptoms and tested positive. One of the females was a new inmate and it is believed she came into the jail with the virus and a couple days into her stay she started showing symptoms Herrell told Lake Legal News. Male inmates on the inmate work crew were also tested after showing symptoms, Herrell said. Test results started coming back in on June 8.
“We are working closely with the health department,” Herrell told LLN on Friday.
Currently all 57 inmates are asymptomatic, “Everyone at this point is asymptomatic including the two females,” Herrell told LLN.
The 57 inmates are in medical isolation and are separated into male and female groups, Herrell said.
In March, in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19, Lake Circuit Judge Heidi Davis signed an order directing the release of 42 inmates. The jail has taken extra precautions since March as well, including a robust screening process at intake and a 14-day quarantine before entering the general population. Inmate visitation has been suspended, along with inmate programs such as AA and Good Jail Ministries, Herrell said in the press release. Jail staff has been screening all new inmates and nurses are stationed in the sally port to test suspects and the arresting officer, and they are stationed in the front lobby where all employees must enter.
Other correctional facilities across the state have had COVID-19 cases for weeks, but these are the first cases for Lake County, Herrell said. “We did all these measures [to help stop it],” Herrell said, “It wasn’t a matter of if, it was when.”
No employees have tested positive or been quarantined at this point, Herrell said. There are currently 759 inmates in custody.
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Our Editor-in-Chief, Marilyn M. Aciego, began writing for Lake Legal News in 2010. Born and raised in Lake County, she is a graduate of Umatilla High School and Lake-Sumter State College. She started her journalism career at LSSC, where she was editor of both student publications, The Angler and The Odyssey. Her professional career began at the Daily Commercial in 2004 where she covered cops and courts the majority of her time there until she left in 2009. Currently, along with being Editor-in-Chief of Lake Legal News, she is the Florida bureau chief for an international media organization. She has made more than two dozen appearances on live national television, including Nancy Grace and the Greta Van Susteren show, along with her appearance on Evil Twins. Contact her with breaking news, tips, and feedback by sending an e-mail to 352Tips@gmail.com. You can also contact us on our Facebook page — and make sure you “Like” and “Follow us” there. [PHOTO CREDIT: Bonnie Whicher]
