COVID-19 cases in a jail have thrust a town with otherwise low rates of the virus into the highest risk category on Massachusetts’ weekly map of virus spread. Middleton moved into the Red category Wednesday, marking the town as one of 23 communities in the state with an average daily incidence rate of 8 cases per 100,000 residents over the previous two weeks. State guidelines limit the reopening progress that can occur in Red communities and suggest changes for school instructional strategies. However, 17 of Middleton’s 18 current active cases of COVID-19 are located within the walls of the Essex County House of Correction, according to a statement from town public health director Derek Fullerton and town administrator Andrew Sheehan. “Based on recent contact tracing, there is NO known evidence of community spread between the positive cases at the correctional facility and the community at large,” the officials wrote in a statement, which included the capitalization to emphasize the word “no.”Officials with the Essex County Sheriff’s Department said 15 staff members are also currently positive for the virus. Town officials said the cluster of cases in the jail has spread to three wards within the facility. As of Sept. 26, visitation was temporarily suspended at the Middleton jail.”We’ve taken a number of precautions throughout our facility to mitigate the exposure and risk to others, including temporarily suspending visits and using video conferencing for inmate court appearances. Everyone in our facility is wearing N95/KN95 masks and we continue to enforce a rigorous 24-hour cleaning schedule, symptom monitoring, as well as social distancing,” a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department wrote in an email. Since the start of the pandemic, Middleton has had a total of 207 cases both inside and outside of the jail. Of those, six patients have died and 183 have recovered. “It is important to note that community decisions are not based on the map color or one cluster alone, and rather, we look at the past weeks of community data and we examine all the cases and all the data to make community decisions,” Fullerton and Sheehan wrote. 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The weekly risk map is published around 6 p.m. on Wednesdays by the Department of Public Health.
MIDDLETON, Mass. —
COVID-19 cases in a jail have thrust a town with otherwise low rates of the virus into the highest risk category on Massachusetts’ weekly map of virus spread.
Middleton moved into the Red category Wednesday, marking the town as one of 23 communities in the state with an average daily incidence rate of 8 cases per 100,000 residents over the previous two weeks. State guidelines limit the reopening progress that can occur in Red communities and suggest changes for school instructional strategies.
However, 17 of Middleton’s 18 current active cases of COVID-19 are located within the walls of the Essex County House of Correction, according to a statement from town public health director Derek Fullerton and town administrator Andrew Sheehan.
“Based on recent contact tracing, there is NO known evidence of community spread between the positive cases at the correctional facility and the community at large,” the officials wrote in a statement, which included the capitalization to emphasize the word “no.”
Officials with the Essex County Sheriff’s Department said 15 staff members are also currently positive for the virus.
Town officials said the cluster of cases in the jail has spread to three wards within the facility. As of Sept. 26, visitation was temporarily suspended at the Middleton jail.
“We’ve taken a number of precautions throughout our facility to mitigate the exposure and risk to others, including temporarily suspending visits and using video conferencing for inmate court appearances. Everyone in our facility is wearing N95/KN95 masks and we continue to enforce a rigorous 24-hour cleaning schedule, symptom monitoring, as well as social distancing,” a spokesperson for the Sheriff’s Department wrote in an email.
Since the start of the pandemic, Middleton has had a total of 207 cases both inside and outside of the jail. Of those, six patients have died and 183 have recovered.
“It is important to note that community decisions are not based on the map color or one cluster alone, and rather, we look at the past weeks of community data and we examine all the cases and all the data to make community decisions,” Fullerton and Sheehan wrote.
The weekly risk map is published around 6 p.m. on Wednesdays by the Department of Public Health.