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Clay County Detention Center to go under 10-day quarantine due to community spread

No COVID-19 outbreak at the jail
Clay County Sheriff's Office
Posted at 2:47 PM, Aug 11, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-11 18:54:48-04

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Clay County Detention Center will be under a 10-day quarantine due to increasing spread of the COVID-19 delta variant.

The quarantine will begin at 10 p.m. Wednesday.

While there is no COVID-19 outbreak at the jail, Sheriff Will Akin put the center under quarantine due to community spread and the inability to obtain “reliable” COVID-19 tests for symptomatic inmates.

“Even a 0.0001% inaccuracy on the tests is too much of a risk to gamble within an enclosed environment like our jail,” Sheriff Akin said.

Inmates will be allowed to move freely in their assigned day rooms with other inmates. Only inmates exhibiting COVID-like symptoms will be isolated in their cells for a 10-day period.

Visitation will not be allowed, though visitors can continue to make contributions to inmates' accounts in the detention center lobby.

Some inmates could be released during this period, based on decisions the sheriff’s office makes in conjunction with the circuit court and county prosecutor.

Those awaiting trial for violent or serious crimes will remain in jail.

The center will continue to take in people arrested for serious or violent crimes, but not municipal arrests.

Detention center employees with inmate contact will be required to wear masks, and Akin asks they give thought to getting the vaccine.

Only 17 of around 230 inmates have asked to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Editor's Note: The Clay County Detention Center updated its policy to allow inmates not experiencing COVID-like symptoms to move freely in their assigned day rooms with other inmates as a way to "better serve inmates' physical AND mental health."