Dallas County Jail Officials Confirm At Least 5 Inmates Have Tested Positive For COVID-19
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM/AP) - After reporting the infection of one inmate, officials at the Dallas County Jail have confirmed four other inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus.
Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown announced Wednesday that an inmate in his 40s tested positive and that four others, who were in his pod, have symptoms. Later Wednesday, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said those four inmates also tested positive.
The initial positive test on the first inmate came back early Wednesday morning. Brown said he'd been housed in a shared pod with about 50 other inmates and had been in the jail since December of 2019. She said health officials were working to determine how he contracted the virus.
Brown had said that the four inmates who showed symptoms had been quarantined, as had those in the pod who weren't showing symptoms.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
Officials in Texas confirm there have been nearly 1,000 residents who have tested positive for COVID-19, and 12 people who have died.
(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)