The Putnam County Jail is one of only a few jails in Tennessee that have not had any positive COVID cases inside the facility.
Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris said they start with questionnaires and temperature checks, then a 10 to 14 day isolation period just in case something is missed when an inmate is accepted. Farris said masks are mandated for staff and for inmates, when they move around the facility, on top of around the clock disinfecting.
“We’re trying to mask up and to do all the things and follow the CDC Guidelines,” Farris said. “We’ve altered that some. In fact our guidelines are a little tougher right now, here in the facility than CDC. We’re doing all we can and constantly trying to refine that.”
Farris said the jail also has rapid testing available, when jail staff believes someone could be positive during intake. He said they also have a sprayer that can disinfect areas in less than 15 seconds.
“We’ve got this machine that we call the e-mist and it’s a sprayer and it sanitizes,” Farris said. “It can actually sanitize a jail room, a holding area, in about 10 to 15 seconds. It’s a mist and that stuff sprays out and it goes down in the cracks and gets everything.”
Farris said credit should also go to judges and district attorneys for letting people make bond, when possible, during the court process. Farris said visitations are allowed through glass and does not expect that to change because of the current protection protocols provide.
“As long as they come in our facility wearing a mask and doing the things we’re asking them to do, I don’t see that changing,” Farris said. “We don’t want to keep the loved ones and the family members out from seeing their family members and the people that are incarcerated in here.”
Farris said the only positive they’ve had was at the juvenile facility. Farris said starting COVID protocols early, so procedures could be tweaked, have added to the jail’s success with COVID.
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