The number of Harris County Sheriff’s Office employees diagnosed with coronavirus has reached 227, including 200 who work in the jail.
There are currently 392 Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies, detention officers and support staff on quarantine for possible COVID-19 exposure. As of Thursday, 282 previously quarantined employees have returned to duty, including 60 who had tested positive for the virus. Thirteen Sheriff’s Office employees are currently hospitalized because of the virus.
The Sheriff’s Office is working with Harris County Public Health to identify co-workers, inmates, and members of the public who may have had close contact with the diagnosed employees so they can take necessary precautions, including quarantine and testing for those with symptoms.
A recent expansion of testing -- which now includes inmates who do not have symptoms of COVID-19 but are believed to have been expo sed to the virus – has helped medical staff identify 392 infected inmates. Fifty-seven inmates who previously tested positive for coronavirus have recovered.