Allegheny County Jail returns to modified lockdown due to uptick in COVID-19 cases
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Allegheny County Jail is back on modified lockdown because of increasing COVID-19 cases.
As of Wednesday, Allegheny County officials said the jail had 91 inmates who were positive and 24 known exposures.
Twenty-nine staff members have also tested positive or are in quarantine, Allegheny County officials said.
The jail had been on a good trajectory until recently with much of our operation restored to normal, but the recent increase in COVID infections resulted in our reaching out to our health partners to determine how best to limit the spread," Orlando Harper, jail warden, said. "Based on that advice, we believe these mitigation efforts are necessary to maintain the health, safety and security of our incarcerated population and our staff members. Once the number of infections decrease, we can reevaluate and adjust our operations again accordingly.
Jail officials will continue to test for COVID cases, Allegheny County said. Each person brought into intake receives a rapid antigen test upon their arrival.
They are cracking down on visitation, too.
Only visitors who are fully vaccinated will be allowed to see fully vaccinated people who are incarcerated.
All potential visitors should call 412-350-2062 or 412-350-2063 to ensure the pod of the individual they want to visit is not currently isolated.
Masks are required.
