Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Erie County Sheriff's officials say a jail management division employee has tested positive for coronavirus. 14 employees with close contact have been placed on quarantine.
The office says the employee was tested at a private facility, and the office was notified of the confirmation Friday afternoon. The employee was in a housing area with two inmates. Since the notification, the Sheriff’s Office transferred the inmates to separate housing units. The inmates will be monitored by medical staff from the Division of Correctional Health for a minimum of 14-days.
Supt. Thomas Diina says 14 employees had close contact with the person who tested positive, and each is being asked to stay home and self isolate.
Inmates are being monitored daily. As for masks, all deputies are being fit tested for masks. Most at-risk are first. They have enough masks for most needed staff members, mostly in medical units.
The office is trying to limit employee to employee contact. "We've begun staggered shift starts, so we're trying to limit the interactions of deputies between shifts," says spokesman Scott Zylka."We're also going to take other measures to make sure our platoon strength is as strong as it can be."
Zylka says all options are on the table. "If we have a major infection rate among our deputies, we will take due diligence into creating a plan," says Zylka. "Part of the plan could mean recently retired, but it's not that easy to recruit retired deputies because there are liabiliites," he notes.
For the 14 employees who are self quarantined, the sheriff's office says no additional testing is necessary.