According to BCSO, COVID-19 is practically nonexistent in Bristol County correctional facilities

DARTMOUTH – COVID-19 cases are almost nonexistent in Bristol County correctional facilities.

According to a BCSO spokesperson, since June 19, only one staff member and one inmate have tested positive for COVID-19. The staff member, a corrections officer, has recovered and returned to duty. The inmate is currently in medical isolation being monitored by health care professionals and is expected to make a full recovery and move back to general population in the weeks ahead.

The inmate is the only incarcerated individual currently recovering from COVID-19. The 47 other inmates who have tested positive for COVID since the pandemic began have all recovered and returned to general population or have been released as their sentences had concluded.

The spokesperson stated that the corrections officer is the 43rd BCSO staff member to test positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began. No staff members are currently away from the facility as 42 recovered and returned to duty and one, a health care professional from Correctional Psychiatric Services, left the BCSO to take a different position at a health care facility in Dartmouth.

“The staff here has done an amazing job in the battle against COVID-19,” Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson said. “We’ve flattened the curve in our facilities, but we’re not out of the woods yet. The virus is still out there, and we will continue to be vigilant and careful in our day-to-day operations.”

Over the past few months, the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office has instituted many protocols to protect inmates, detainees and staff from the Coronavirus outbreak. Some of those measures include:

· All employees, detainees and inmates were issued masks that must be worn inside the secure perimeter of the facilities.

· All areas of the facilities are being cleaned/disinfected every day on every shift.

· All staff members are being screened before entering the buildings; new arriving inmates are being screened before being accepted into custody.

· In-person visitation has been suspended to limit the number of people coming in and out. It will resume, hopefully soon, based on guidance from the Governor’s Office, DPH and CDC.