CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Officials with the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office say Detention Center-Central has entered a lockdown after an outbreak of COVID-19 where over 107 residents and 20 staff members tested positive.
Officials say residents will not be allowed to move and there will be no visitation for the next 48 hours, with all residents being held in respiratory isolation, while contact tracing takes place.
Detention Center officials say state and federal court authorities have been notified of the outbreak, and no in-custody defendants will be transported for any previously scheduled court appearances.
All Detention Center staff will continue to be tested for the virus Friday, December 11th through Saturday, December 12th, and if additional staff test positive, the lockdown may continue into next week, according to a news release.
Officials most of the residents who have tested positive for coronavirus have been released back into the general population, as they are no longer contagious, but residents will continue to be tested as positive cases rise in the Detention Center.
Only two of the 107 residents who tested positive for coronavirus are currently in the infirmary, and the vast majority of residents with positive cases are not showing symptoms, officials say.
“I remain grateful for and amazed by the commitment and dedication of the staff at the Detention Center, and of our incredible team of healthcare providers with Wellpath,” Sheriff McFadden said. “These are challenging times for us all. Our residents and their families should know that we continue to do all that we can to care for and protect those individuals entrusted to us. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of this horrible virus is that it can be spread so easily by individuals who have no idea that they themselves are sick.”
