STRYKER, Ohio — The Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio is again accepting inmates again after it halted admissions nearly a month ago due to the coronavirus outbreak, the facility’s executive director, Dennis Sullivan, said on Friday.
The jail, which houses inmates from Defiance, Fulton, Henry, Lucas, and Williams counties, has significantly reduced its population, and additional bed space will allow for the facility to house more inmates as of Friday, Mr. Sullivan said. Intake was paused on April 7, given the health pandemic.
Three dormitory units had positive cases, and one of those units will be out of quarantine on Saturday, which will open bed space. Additionally other inmates housed in isolation will be returning to the jail’s general population on May 9.
The jail’s average daily population sits around 640 people, and on Friday the population was down to a total of 496 inmates, as law enforcement and judges have played a role in issuing summonses instead of arrests or releasing a defendant on bond, Mr. Sullivan said.
“I think we’ve done a pretty good job at identifying people who are symptomatic, and we’re trying to get them quickly removed from those dormitories and we quarantine the rest of them in that unit,” Mr. Sullivan said. “We are treating every unit as if they’re quarantined, and we’ve been doing that for a long time. We try not to move inmates from one unit to another so they have a risk of exposure.”
Six staff members and 20 inmates and have tested positive for coronavirus since the initial outbreak, Mr. Sullivan told The Blade. Four of the staff members already have returned to work or will return to work on Monday.
“There has been no hospitalization for staff or inmates. We have been very fortunate that these have been light symptoms for all,” Mr. Sullivan said.
As of Friday, Mr. Sullivan said he has enough protective equipment for staff members and inmates with assistance from the Williams County Health Department.
Outside visitors, including family members, are not permitted at the jail.
First Published May 1, 2020, 3:58 p.m.
