Early mitigation and physical distancing appear to be helping the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office control COVID-19 cases among their inmates.
The Hennepin County Jail reported the first COVID-19 case inside the jail on April 12. The inmate had been arrested two days prior to testing positive and was held in isolation due to his symptoms.
"It's important to realize that a jail of our size, we're going to have some cases," said Hennepin County Sheriff David Hutchinson. "I think with us being on the front-side of this with taking peoples' temperatures and asking COVID-19 related questions, we've been able to stay in front of any out breaks."
The COVID-19 positive inmate was released and told to self-isolate that Sunday. Hutchinson said Tuesday that a second COVID-19 case had been reported over the weekend.
Outbreaks inside the Hennepin County Jail have been mitigated through inmates and staff using personal protective equipment and also by the reduced amount of inmates.
"We're really trying to mitigate the transfer of this disease and any disease," he said. "With the new jail and the old jail, we've been able to contain sick people, even if they're not sick with COVID-19, we've been able to isolate them to the old jail."
Some Minnesota prisons and jails have had more of an issue with COVID-19 outbreaks. MCF-Moose Lake reports 14 confirmed cases and 31 presume positive cases within their prison population.
So far in Minnesota, the biggest COVID-19 outbreak among jails in prisons in Minnesota has been at MCF-Moose Lake where the Minnesota Department of Corrections now says there are 14 confirmed cases and 31 presumed positive cases among the prison population.
Outbreaks remain a concern nationwide, including in Ohio where at nearly 2,000 inmates have tested positive.