A detention officer at a downtown jail facility operated by the Cameron County Sheriff’s Department has tested positive for COVID-19, according to a statement posted by the office on social media.
“On June 10, 2020 a Detention Officer from one of our downtown jail facilities tested positive for COVID19. The officer was last on duty on June 6, 2020. The officer’s family member began to show symptoms and the officer tested himself and his results were positive,” the office wrote.
“The officer’s assigned area was not around inmates. Staff he came into contact with have been notified and are quarantined and pending test results.”
The department also reported that a civilian employee assigned at the Carrizales-Rucker Detention Center in Olmito tested positive for the virus on Thursday.
That employee was last in the facility on Monday. “Other civilian employees that work around this employee have been quarantined in their homes and are pending test results,” the office stated.
“We have been fortunate not to have any inmate test positive for COVID19. We are well aware that we are not immune to this disease. We are taking all necessary precautions to keep our staff and our prisoners as safe as possible. We wish our Detention Officer and the civilian employee a speedy recovery and are keeping our other employees awaiting results in our prayers.”
According to a Wednesday report from the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, 700 inmates statewide have tested positive for coronavirus. Five of those inmates are being treated off-site and the commission has reported five deaths across Texas.
3,272 inmates have been quarantined. 121 jailers have tested positive and an additional 147 jailers are under quarantine in Texas, the commission stated.
