Fifteen Ulster County Jail inmates are COVID-19-positive, with more tests pending, Sheriff Juan Figueroa said Monday.

Those 15 inmates have been quarantined in separate cells within a separate wing of the jail since Wednesday. Figueroa has been visiting personally — in a full protective suit — with the inmates who have been struggling in isolation.

What You Need To Know

  • Fifteen Ulster County Jail inmates have tested positive for COVID-19

  • The inmates have been quarantined within the jail since Wednesday

  • The sheriff is trying to make the quarantine less taxing on the inmates’ mental health

“It’s just crazy,” inmate George Mitchell III told Spectrum News over the phone Saturday. “I feel like I’m going crazy.”

Mitchell, 19, did not fault jail staff for his own struggles in isolation, saying the guards have their hands full.

“They do try. They try to do what they have to do for us or whatnot, but there’s only so much they can do when everybody’s banging on their cells,” Mitchell said. “I’m not the only person who feels like they’re going crazy ... because we’re just in here for so long.”

Figueroa told Spectrum News Monday that guards have been letting inmates out for two hours at a time, one at a time. There cannot be several inmates moving about within that wing simultaneously.

During those two hours, an inmate can exercise, shower, and do laundry. If an inmate requests additional time out of his cell, he may receive it, Figueroa said.

“Most of us out there who have 14-day quarantines are doing it at home,” he said during an interview in the sheriff’s office lobby. “It’s a little different, because you’re secured in a facility.”

Figueroa said all 15 COVID-19 cases have come from one pod; inmates from another pod all tested negative; and test results of four more pods are pending. There are 169 inmates currently at the facility.

Figueroa gave all quarantined inmates electronic devices to read books, watch movies, and videoconference with their families.

“It’s the holidays. People have families. You can’t just leave them in cells like this,” Figueroa said.

On Sunday evening, fresh off some recreational time and a shower, Mitchell was in better spirits.

“We can make it through this,” he said, adding that it seemed to him that three or four inmates were now being allowed out at one time with proper procedure and distancing.

Mitchell’s relatives, who were disappointed with the tone and manners of some jail staff who handled their calls seeking information, were also in higher spirits Monday, knowing the inmates have had direct communication with the sheriff.

“I spoke to the individuals in that pod personally and I said, ‘Look. This has never happened in our facility,’ ” Figueroa explained. “A pandemic hasn’t happened in humanity in over 100 years; you have to stay patient for the next couple of weeks.”

Figueroa said there are some inmates with underlying health conditions who might be at greater risk if they contract the virus. Figueroa said some of the inmates, who do not have much time left to serve, might be released early.