Bristol County Sheriff’s Office announces facilities are clear of COVID-19

DARTMOUTH – Bristol County correctional facilities are free of the COVID-19 virus.

According to a spokesperson with the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office, no staff members, county inmates or ICE detainees in BCSO custody have tested positive for COVID-19 since July 10, and every individual who has tested positive since the pandemic began has made a full recovery.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Bristol County Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson said. “There are still more than 100,000 COVID cases in Massachusetts and many experts are predicting another wave in the fall. We will continue to be vigilant and careful in our facilities, especially when new individuals are admitted.”

Since the pandemic began, 48 county inmates tested positive for COVID-19. All inmates either moved back to general population from medical isolation after recovering or were released as their sentences had concluded.

Forty-three BCSO staff members tested positive over the last six months and 42 of them recovered and returned to duty. A health care professional with Correctional Psychiatric Services left the BCSO to take a different job at a medical facility in Dartmouth after recovering. The breakdown of the 43 positive cases is as follows: Nurse (2), K9 Officer (1), Corrections Officer (28), Mental Health Clinician (1), Lieutenant (2), Communications Dispatcher (2), Classification Counselor (3), Sergeant (2), Captain (1) and Teacher (1).

The BCSO states that over the past few months, the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office has instituted several 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.