GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Just like everyone else, the Clay County Jail has been affected by the threat of COVID-19.

Balancing in- and out-going traffic while also maintaining the health of those incarcerated is a task that requires diligence. From the beginning of the process – arrest through incarceration, Clay Sherriff’s Officers are doing all that they can to ensure the welfare of themselves and the inmates.

“If you happen to encounter someone who may exhibit signs of COVID-19, to take the proper and necessary precautions, the universal precautions that the CDC has put out,” said Dep. Andrew Ford of the steps that his fellow officers are taking. “Also, if officers suspect that someone may be ill, it’s just like if someone complains they have heart pain or chest pains or whatever the case, we usually call [fire and] rescue to have them evaluated before we even transport them. We also put out information to our deputies on the street in reference to those proper precautions. You know it’s just business as normal. Not only for the safety of them but also for those they may encounter, even if it’s a person we are arresting and taking to jail.”

Every inmate entering the jail is screened and evaluated under the guidelines set by the CDC and the Florida Department of Health. Any inmate who does not pass the screening – found to have symptoms of an infectious disease – they are separated and further evaluated by jail medical staff.

Since March 12, inmate visitor programs that allow for or require any close contact has been suspended. All visits have been and will continue to be conducted in the jail visitation booths. Also, all entrants to include program coordinators and facilitators have been screened before entry into the jail.

Inmates already in the jail who demonstrate signs of COVID-19 are evaluated by the medical staff.

“Essentially, what happens is that they will be placed into a negative air-flow room, which means that there’s no air that circulates through the building. All that air goes out,” said Ford. “So, they’re placed into a negative air-flow room and they are monitored by our staff.”

The exact amount of cases that could be handled at one time int the facility is currently unknown, and by following the guidance of the CDC and doing everything to try and limit the possible spread of a contagion, sheriff’s office officials hope they don’t have to find out.

Unlike many other organizations, the jail can operate with a skeleton crew and corrections officers can’t work remotely from home.

“I’m not aware that there has been any reduction in staff. We’re still a jail. We still have to operate. We still have to keep folks safe. There is no reduction in staffing,” said Ford. “We made sure that we pushed out to the men and women of our agencies, following those universal precautions from the CDC. We’re making sure that if someone does exhibit signs of COVID-19 who’s already in the jail, the proper process that’s in place now because of COVID-19 to follow what they should do if they see an inmate with those particular signs or symptoms.”

The sheriff’s department’s primary focus is that everyone under their purview, from officers to inmates, follows protocol for the betterment of all involved.