Detention center confirms 27 new cases

CLOVIS — Optimism during a pandemic always hinges on the next round of testing results, and detention facilities are the rule rather than the exception.

The Curry County Adult Detention Center staff was hopeful it would mostly have a COVID-19 problem eliminated in its walls by the end of this week. But Thursday results showed otherwise, with the center confirming 27 new cases. Of those cases, 26 are in the facility and one person who was since released has been notified of the positive test.

On Thursday, before test results were known, Detention Center Administrator Mark Gallegos said he had 34 positive inmates. One of them was released. The additional 26 positive cases puts the facility at 59 current cases.

Of those cases, Gallegos is optimistic 31 will finish quarantine Friday and 26 more will finish quarantine Oct. 25. An inmate who is not showing symptoms for 10 days, Gallegos said, is considered to have finished quarantine.

“We’re quarantining everybody that comes in, all of the males, in the annex,” Gallegos said. “Everybody will get a test on the onset. If they’re not showing any signs or symptoms after 10 days, they go into the general population.”

For all detainees, whether positive or not, two cells are allowed to come out at a time to meet a requirement for two daily out-of-cell hours. Detainees wear masks, and employees wear masks and face shields.

The jail has medical facilities on site, and so far none of the detainees who have tested positive have required outside hospitalization. If that were the case, Gallegos would seek a medical furlough from judges, and he wouldn’t anticipate detainees would be much of a flight risk in that physical state.

Gallegos said only one female has tested positive, and in that case the bond was reduced so she could leave the facility and treat from home.

Gallegos said the jail needs public infection rates to come down, as the inmate population comes from the community.

“We’ve got to have our community wear those masks,” Gallegos said. “I’m a prime example. Our first positive detainee that came in from Lubbock, I was the one that searched him. Because I was wearing my (personal protective equipment), I didn’t get COVID. We need to have people in our community wearing these masks.”

The facility, which is considered fully staffed at 70, currently has 18 vacancies. Gallegos said departing employees have various reasons for leaving, and nobody has specifically told him COVID-19 issues are the reason for departure.

“The staff that are here,” Gallegos said, “I want to give them a shout-out. We are considered first responders.”