Coronavirus infects more than 100 Wake inmates, detention officers

Out of 1,100 inmates in two facilities, close to 100 are in isolation after testing positive for the virus. More than a dozen Wake County Sheriff's Office staffers also have tested positive.

"Inevitably, it caught up with us, as it did everyone else.," Sheriff Gerald Baker said Wednesday. "It’s kind of like a pinball machine – it’s all over the place."

Mass testing helped authorities identify 55 virus cases at the downtown jail and another 40 at the Hammond Road facility, although that latter number is incomplete, with some test results not yet in.

Seventeen detention officers and other sheriff’s office staffers also are out after testing positive, with an estimated 10 more out as a precaution.

"We do know that, when the numbers are high in the community, we’re going to see that in the jail. So, we want to remain proactive," said Tonya Minggia, health services administrator for the sheriff's office.

When inmates first arrive at the jail, they are placed in 14-day quarantine. Those who test negative go to the general population, but inmates who test positive go into single-cell isolation.

Authorities said they believe staffers are bringing the virus into the jail.

"Given the Christmas holiday, the New Year's holiday, all those folks who contracted and may be asymptomatic are coming into the jail," said Dr. Obi Umesi, medical director for the jail.

Umesi said detention officers should be higher on the state's vaccination priority list to prevent such clusters.

So far, the jail hasn't reported any serious cases that require hospitalization, but the outbreak is forcing Baker and the court system to scramble.

"We’ve been moving staff all around places," the sheriff said.

"We are essentially limiting, based on the doctor’s recommendations," Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway said, "any transport of prisoners into our facility."

Attorneys cannot meet with inmates during the lockdown and have had to use videoconferencing instead.