ALDEN, N.Y. — Some are expressing concern with how COVID-19 cases are being handled inside a Western New York jail.

"The inmates are concerned and they're worried," said a woman who has a family member inside the Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden. 

She's alleging the facility isn't doing enough to stop the spread of COVID-19 inside the complex. Her family member is an inmate there, and has tested negative for the virus on multiple occasions. She says her loved one is in a unit that potentially exposes him to the virus.

"People who are negative, people who are positive, people who have been exposed, people who have symptoms, and they're not even properly cleaning, they're not sanitizing like they're supposed to. He said they took an inmate out that tested positive for COVID and stuck him right in the same room and never disinfected it or anything," she said.

She's also been told an inmate who had COVID-19 was allowed to work in the kitchen, sheriff's deputies, and corrections officers are allowed to work as they wait for test results, and inmates are only being given just minutes out of their cell a day. 

"Now these inmates are in their room 23 hours and 45 minutes a day, they only get to come out for 15 minutes," she said. 

Spectrum News isn't using her name because she said inmates are being targeted after trying to get the word out to their family and the media. She ultimately would like to see the inmates be released until the COVID-19 spread is addressed inside.

"These inmates need to be protected, they need to be treated as people and not as animals. Their lives matter," she added.

The Erie County Corrections Specialist Advisory Board addressed some of these issues at its virtual meeting Tuesday evening. Thomas Diina, the superintendent for Erie County's Jail Management Division, says there are 24 incarcerated individuals who have tested positive at the correctional facility. 

"We have designated housing areas specifically for those who are being monitored for potential infection and for those who are confirmed to be positive for COVID," said Diina.

"Just to clarify that those are two separate housing units, there's a housing unit for positives and there's a housing unit for maybe," said Undersheriff John Greenan. 

A spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office tells Spectrum News the sheriff cannot decide to release anyone remanded to the county and the decision is reviewed and issued by a judge. He also says it wasn't until late November that inmates started testing positive. Masks are required for inmates and employees. Any employee found violating the mask mandate will face discipline, which includes termination.

During the meeting, Superintendent Diina said anyone who enters the jail has their temperature taken and has to fill out a questionnaire before admission. At the moment, there isn't mandatory testing for staff at the jail. 

"I can tell you we have had numerous employees that have been kept out pending test results. At this point we don't have the capacity to facilitate mandatory testing," Diina said.

Tuesday's meeting also included a conversation about vaccinating inmates and the staff at the jail. Undersheriff Greenan said he understands the virus is being brought in by the staff and would like to see those inside the jail get vaccinated soon to avoid a continued spread of the virus. 

The sheriff's office sent Spectrum News a letter from the State Commission of Correction addressing the conditions inside the Erie County Holding Center and Erie County Correctional Facility during the pandemic:

Erie-2020/12/9 COVID 19 Assessment Letter by Adam Penale on Scribd

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