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22 inmates at Smith County Jail test positive for COVID-19; mass testing underway

There are 170 inmates in isolation at the Smith County Jail.

SMITH COUNTY, Texas — On August 12, 51 inmates at the Smith County Jail were in isolation after being exposed to the coronavirus. Two days later, that number more than doubled to 117.

As of Thursday, there are 170 inmates in isolation.

This isn't the first time the Smith County Jail has faced a coronavirus outbreak. These cases stem from a group of inmates who were working outside the jail and returned with symptoms.

"'They started feeling ill [when] they came back in and they were all put on quarantine," Chief John Shoemaker with the Smith County Sheriff's Office, said.

When some of these inmates tested positive, the entire cell needed to quarantine which led to the initial isolation at the jail.

CBS19 initially spoke with Chief Shoemaker on August 12 when there were 15 positive cases of coronavirus among inmates and 11 among staff. At the time, he was able to confirm that 15 COVID-19 tests had been administered.  

Now, more than a week later, he doesn't have an exact number of additional tests given, but believes it's around another 15.

"We're actually going to do a mass test to Monday for inmates at low-risk and inmates at the Central Jail," Shoemaker said.

There are currently 22 inmates who are positive and 11 staff members. Shoemaker estimates 120 inmates will be tested.

"There's 96 at Central Jail and there will be another 24 at the low-risk facility," Shoemaker said.

Coronavirus isn't the only problem at the Smith County Jail.

"We had an issue with the medical staff not being there at our jail," Shoemaker said.

Chief Shoemaker wouldn't share what led to the walkout, but says for an hour on Saturday, no medical personnel was at the jail. 

He says there is typically three medical staff on-duty at a time, at the Smith County Central Jail and two at the low-risk jail. However, he says the situation has since been resolved and staff has returned. 

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