Sheriff: 79 Kenosha County inmates, 18 staff tested positive for COVID-19

KENOSHA COUNTY -- Kenosha County sheriff's officials on Thursday, April 30 announced 79 inmates at the Kenosha County Detention Center and Kenosha County Jail tested positive for COVID-19, along with five employees. That's in addition to 13 employees that previously tested positive. Thursday's announcement followed testing of approximately 420 inmates and 250 employees over two days, with help from the Wisconsin National Guard.

Sheriff David Beth has given his employees personal protective equipment, they're cleaning inmate areas around five times a day and inmates were given masks. Still, one out of every five inmates has tested positive for COVID-19.

Sheriff Beth also worked with other law enforcement agencies and judges to reduce the jail population by 50% in less than two months -- letting inmates with a $500 bond or less go, and placing others on probation.

While that has helped to maintain social distancing in a confined space, Sheriff Beth said the results of the testing were disappointing -- given those efforts to mitigate the spread.

"We thought, and I still think we've done a really good job here," said Sheriff Beth. "It's just showing me how contagious this virus is."

The Kenosha County Sheriff's Department does have nurses on staff, available around the clock. As of Thursday, Sheriff Beth said those who are sick have mild symptoms, or none at all.

A news release from the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department Thursday said:

These changes include:

Health officials noted in a news release Monday, April 27 one inmate and one employee tested positive at the Kenosha County Pretrial Facility.