Bexar County Jail Inmate Tests Positive



The Bexar County Jail.
The Bexar County Jail.

First Inmate to Test Positive

We just wrote a post yesterday about officers and civilian employees testing positive for the coronavirus but that no inmates had tested positive. It was only a matter of time but that change came quicker than we expected. Today, KSAT posted their article announcing the first positive result on an inmate in the Bexar County Jail.

How Did the Inmate Contract the Virus?

The article is disturbing. It says the inmate entered the jail on March 11 and reported symptoms on April 9. That’s basically a month. I really doubt the incubation period could extend that long so how did this inmate get infected? Could it have been an infected person who was in for only a day or two, then bounded out? Or could he have gotten infected by one of the guards who have tested positive?

Employees & Inmates at Risk Due to Incompetent Salazar Administration

Another thing that bothers us is the subtitle on the KSAT article. “All 3,000 inmates will now wear surgical masks, BSCO says” Really? Sheriff Salazar is just now deciding that the inmates should all wear masks? Has he been living under a rock lately or what? His officers and civilian employees have been getting sick. EVERYONE knew it was only a matter to time before an inmate got sick, though the thought was that the inmate would come into the facility already sick. Yet knowing all that, he waits for something to happen before acting. How pathetic is that.

Salazar had originally not ordered the employees to wear their face masks at all times while at work even after some employees had become sick. (That has just recently changed. Very recently. That order should have come long ago). More than likely the inmate contracted the virus at the jail so who did he get it from? An officer? If Salazar had made all employees wear a mask right away would that have prevented this from happening? And if it came from an infected inmate who bonded out right away, would the spread have happened if Salazar had made inmates wear a mask sooner? Mayor Ron Nirenberg declared a Public Health Emergency on March 2, 2020. And we knew the virus was coming long before that. But as usual, Sheriff Salazar waits until after the fact before doing anything. This man’s incompetence is a danger to the citizens of Bexar County.

Another Cook County Jail Situation

The last thing we need is a Cook County Jail situation here in our Bexar County Jail. Right now the Cook County Jail has 276 inmates who have tested positive for COVID-19. Two inmates have died. And how about this for a staggering number, “One hundred seventy two sheriff’s office staff have the illness,” according to ABC7Chicago.com, Do they even have anyone left to run the jail?

We were fortunate that Judge Wolff and D.A. Gonzales worked to release low level offenders. The Cook County Jail had to deal with ignorant people who stubbornly refused to accept it was a necessity for public safety. But that foresight on the part of our county leaders can be completely undone by the incompetence of the Salazar administration. Salazar needs to do some planning. This is not rocket science. Wearing face masks was a no brainer. This administration needs to get on the ball and do their job or they need to be held liable for their incompetence.

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