Dozens of inmates at J. Reuben Long Detention Center test positive for COVID-19
More than four dozen detainees at Horry County’s jail have tested positive for COVID-19.
The Horry County Sheriff’s Office announced Monday that 56 patients tested positive for coronavirus and are isolated in medical units. The patients are under medical supervision.
Inmates will be taken to the hospital on an as-needed basis, according to the Horry County Sheriff’s Office.
J. Reuben Long Detention Center has not announced any deaths in either detainees or employees. In the county’s COVID-19 update last week, five employees tested positive and were out of work.
Another 10 were waiting for their results. More than 30 J. Reuben Long employees have tested positive since the pandemic started and returned to work. More than 200 employees have tested negative.
There are currently slightly more than 600 detainees at J. Reuben Long.
From the onset of the COVID - 19 pandemic, detainees transported to the Detention Center, regardless of origin or arresting agency, are screened through a series of questions and temperatures are taken before intake.
Any detainee who admits close contact or appears to be symptomatic is fitted with a mask and further screened by a nurse. They are also put in quarantine.
All new inmates are assigned to observation pods for 14 days until they are placed in general population units, officials say. The jail also follows South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control’s recommendations as well as those from the federal Centers for Disease control.
Sheriff Philip Thompson said at several press conferences early in the pandemic that the jail tried to make sure everyone avoided the virus.
“That’s for the safety of not only the inmates, but our staff and everyone that is working out there,” Thompson said.
The jail continued to allow some visitors during the pandemic, including lawyers and bond companies. The jail has stopped family visits with inmates, which were done by video conference in a large room.
Bond hearings continued at the jail, though inmates and jail staff often wore masks during those proceedings.
Most J. Reuben Long inmates have appeared in Horry County court by video instead of being taken to the Conway courthouse. That move was to help slow the spread of the virus between the locations.
Last week, the South Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Donald Beatty ordered that circuit courts will not be allowed to hold jury trials for the foreseeable future. The order was in the wake of coronavirus cases increasing across South Carolina.
Jurors summonsed by the Horry County Clerk of Court for jury trials do not have to report for the week of Dec. 7 or the week of Dec. 14. Other hearings are currently still on the schedule.
This story was originally published December 7, 2020 at 4:22 PM.
