ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Monroe County Jail has seen a recent rise in COVID-19 cases among inmates.

Captain James McGowan, Commander of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office COVID Command Post, says as of Friday afternoon, 33 jail inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. He says it’s an infection rate of 4.6%.

What You Need To Know

  • Captain James McGowan says as of Friday afternoon, 33 Monroe County Jail inmates have tested positive for COVID-19

  • He's confident in the steps the jail is taking to combat the virus and says they’re well equipped to do so

  • He says the jail is one of the safest places to be, virus or not

  • There are special wings for quarantined inmates, at-risk inmates, and the COVID-positive inmates

“At some point in time, with the prevalence it was in the county, we knew it would get in here somehow. And the day is here,” McGowan said.

But he's confident in the steps the jail is taking to combat the virus, and as a jail, he’s says they’re well equipped to do so.

“We’re usually looking at no contacts. This guy can’t get along with this guy, so we separate them," McGowan said. "Well that works out great if somebody gets sick in an area and gets COVID, because that’s the only area we’re worried about now.”

New inmates are quarantined for two weeks before entering the jail. There are also special wings for quarantined inmates, at-risk inmates, and the COVID-positive inmates.

The rest of the inmates are being limited to their own towers.

“We want everyone secure, but that doesn’t mean we have to lock the whole jail down," McGowan said. "We just limit the movement. But in the other units you can still come out, you can still watch TV, you can still go to the gym, you can still do some of these things.”

But sanitation has become even more important than ever before.

“I have deputies assigned 24-hours a day, their only job, nothing to do with anything else, they’re going through the jail cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. So 24 hours a day the jail is being cleaned,” McGowan said.

And with access to 24-hour medical care and mental health services, he says the jail is one of the safest places to be, virus or not.

“We are absolutely 100% confident that we’re doing everything we can and that the people in here are in a good spot even with what’s going on with COVID," McGowan said. "And we look forward to eradicating what is in here, and getting back to business as normal in the jail.”