West Cook News

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office announced that 26 more detainees tested positive for COVID-19 at the Cook County Jail, and as of April 1 over 200 detainees tested positive for the virus, according to NBCChicago.

Fourteen of those detainees that were diagnosed with COVID-19 were hospitalized. In total, there were currently 234 positive cases confirmed in detainees with 32 negative detainee cases as of that date. Seventy-eight of the sheriff’s office staff also tested positive for COVID-19.

“Cermak Health Services staff are closely monitoring the detainees on the living units where these individuals were housed and will test any detainees who are symptomatic,” said the Sheriff’s Office to NBCChicago.

The Cook County Jail announced the first two cases of COVID-19 on March 23. The Cook County judges are conducting case-by-case bond reviews in order to lower the jail’s occupancy and reduce the number of possible infections for the facility. So far, at least 400 detainees have been released.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker also issued an executive order halting the transfer of new prisoners to the Illinois Department of Corrections during the COVID-19 pandemic on March 26.

Illinois state prisons have also suspended visits in order to prevent further spread of the virus to guards and inmates.

“The Cook County Sheriff’s Office is asking for your help. While each of us continues to do our part with social distancing and reducing the spread of COVID-19, isolation is not an option for CCSO staff who work tirelessly to keep the wheels of our society turning,” said the Cook County Sheriff’s Department on their Facebook page.

“Sheriff Dart has prepared barracks, previously used for an inmate bootcamp program, to be used as a hospital and/or isolation housing for detainees with COVID-19. The barracks have a capacity of at least 500 beds and are located away from Cook County Jail. This is one of the many measures the sheriff has taken to prepare for COVID-19 cases at the Jail,” said the sheriff’s office.