Henrico Sheriff: All inmates previously positive for COVID have recovered

All Henrico County inmates who tested positive for COVID-19 during a widespread outbreak in the county’s jails are now considered recovered from the virus, Henrico County Sheriff Alisa Gregory said Monday.

Gregory, an impromptu speaker at Varina District Supervisor Tyrone Nelson’s community meeting in Sandston, implied that the inmates (most of whom she had described previously as asymptomatic) had since tested negative.

“We have cleared every one of those inmates [from infection],” Gregory said. “They are, by CDC standards and the Virginia Health Department standards, considered in the recovery phase. So we are very relieved and excited.”

A total of 198 inmates had tested positive as of late last month, including 168 who were still being monitored at that time.

The virus has been detected in 12 new inmates during their intake process, Gregory said – seven men and five women – but those 12 have been quarantined away from other new inmates and away from the main jail population and will remain so until they too are considered negative.

"We're excited to be able to continue to test and continue to screen to hopefully prevent the spread and not have a widespread outbreak like we did in the beginning of July."

Gregory attributed the jail's success in limiting the spread to its diversion plan, through which more than 900 inmates with drug dependency or mental health issues have been directed to rehabilitation programs rather than serving the full time in jail the otherwise would have. The program has led to the county's lowest number of inmates – currently 1,134, Gregory said – in 15 years, and it has provided the necessary space to quarantine groups of new inmates and groups of COVID-infected inmates.