KOOTENAI COUNTY, Idaho – The Kootenai County Sheriff’s Office is now screening all new inmates for COVID-19 before they enter the jail.
Sergeant Chris Wagar said that they have medical staff on-site 24/7 that have been asking new inmates a set of basic questions, such as their travel history, etc. They are also taking their temperature.
Sgt. Wagar also said that if inmates say ‘yes’ to any of the questions or have a fever, they will be provided with a mask and put in a pod that is isolated from any of the other inmates.
“Abundance of caution is the name of the game when it comes to this. We want to smart about what we do, we are responsible for the inmates and the staff, so we want to use caution when it comes down to all of it,” Wagar said.
The Sheriff’s Office can test for flu right now and they are waiting for testing kits to arrive to be able to test for COVID-19.
Sgt. Wagar said that they haven’t allowed visitors to do face-to-face visits with inmates for a while. But, they are allowing visits with inmates through an online program.
The normal kiosks visits in the Sheriff’s Office will be closed due to COVID-19 precautions.
