AUSTIN, Texas — The Travis County Sheriff's Office (TCSO) has instituted a new policy after a rising number of COVID-19 cases at the Travis County Correctional Complex in Del Valle: no more cloth masks or gaiters for all employees.
That policy also goes for the downtown jail facility located at 500 West 10th St. The plan was activated as soon as authorities started seeing positive COVID-19 cases in mid-January.
According to TCSO spokesperson Kristen Dark, as of Feb. 8, 30 new positive cases have been reported among the inmate population of 1,829. Forty-eight inmates are in quarantine, 59 are confirmed positive cases and 439 inmates are in isolation.
On Feb. 2, corrections officers and civilians helped fold laundry at the Travis County Correctional Complex after an inmate in that unit tested positive. Dark said the inmate's entire housing unit is now in quarantine.
On Jan. 23, an inmate who worked in the kitchen unit tested positive for COVID-19 and forced the kitchen to shut down. Inmates are now having to eat sack lunches several times a week until that quarantine is over, although they are able to receive hot meals a few times each week.
But "John," an inmate who contacted KVUE and wished to remain unidentified, said he doesn't feel safe.
"It's scary because you don't know what might happen, you know, if you don't know if you can catch it. And I have Lyme disease and I'm asthmatic," he said.
John also listed other concerns, like laundry not being done for two weeks at a time, jail administration not keeping staff informed, insufficient personal protective equipment (PPE) and improper quarantine procedures.
"After having us in quarantine for 10 days, they move people from other units who had tested positive into our unit without retesting them. They said they were fine. One gentleman has liver cancer and they moved somebody who tested positive in with him," John said.
He said he has also seen correction officers who didn't wear face coverings.
"They [corrections officers] don't always wear masks, you know, and [it's] on top of their faces," John said.
Dark addressed each of John's claims, starting with the laundry.
She said there is a daily rotation of laundry in each unit, and it's up to each inmate to learn the new laundry rotation schedule.
She addressed the PPE issue next.
"The inmates are given two surgical masks and additional surgical masks are kept on every housing post. So, an inmate may have a new mask immediately upon request. We also replace masks that have been soiled or torn or broken," Dark said.
As for corrections officers not wearing masks, Dark is skeptical.
"Our employees are working in a building where we have surveillance everywhere, not to mention coworkers and supervisors on the floor with them. So, I find it hard to believe a corrections officer would be able to interact with anyone on his or her shift without being confronted by a supervisor or a coworker about that," she said. "It's just so important. And it's not just about inmates, it's also about coworkers. Any time PPE is not being worn by one of our employees, it puts both sets of people at risk."
On the subject of when or when not to quarantine, Dark said this is a common misconception for inmates.
She said inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 and finished quarantine are not required to get retested because they are cleared by a doctor to go back into the general population.
It's all part of an evolving isolation protocol that started back in February 2020. That protocol also includes Plexiglas throughout central booking in the downtown jail facility and various places throughout the jail where face-to-face interactions take place, hand sanitizer in common areas and soap in inmate cell areas.
Dark said the facilities are also periodically cleaned by a professional company that sanitizes with an antimicrobial mist that lasts several months. Sanitation foggers are also used.
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