LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville Metro Corrections currently has 1,610 inmates, but the building was designed to hold 1,353, and it's creating more challenges with the COVID-19.
There are currently 20 positive cases inside the jail, and that number was more than 30 last week.
"Jails were not designed for a pandemic," said Steve Durham, assistant director of the jail. "The virus gets in here one of two ways: That's with either a fresh arrest with individuals being brought off the street coming in here or employees who don't know they have and not intentionally spreading the disease."
All offenders who enter the facility are screened by a health care professional, have their temperature taken and checked for COVID-19 symptoms. They're also asked whether they're vaccinated. The jail then checks if they've been vaccinated by checking the vaccine registry database.
"We target certain groups to tests on a daily basis," said Capt. Darrell Goodlett with Metro Corrections. "Continuously, we're offering testing to people who have not yet moved into general population, who are on the fresh arrest side. We offer them testing almost every day."
While staff are required to wear masks, inmates are not unless they're going to medical help, being transported or going to court.Â
"Inmates are given masks," Durham said. "... We also give them cloth masks when they move into permanent housing.
"You may park some of your liberties at the door, but you don't leave the Constitution behind. There are some personal liberties that individuals have that can't be mandated by a rule of the organization."
Inmates who test positive are removed from general housing and put in another unit with others who have tested positive and are going through the 10-day quarantine.
The jail also said it thoroughly cleans and sanitizes those areas where inmates tested positive.
Metro Corrections has administered 8,918 COVID-19 tests. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 472 inmates tested positive, 451 of which have been released from the jail.
"We've been offering vaccines to the inmate population," Durham said. "We've been doing it once a week with Public Health. We've administered 1,109 vaccines through Wednesday."
The FOP resident said more than 1,000 inmates are vaccinated, but two-thirds of the population is not.
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