Another York County Sheriff’s Office employee tests positive for COVID-19, officials say
A worker at the York County Sheriff’s Office has tested positive for coronavirus, officials said.
The employee works in the enforcement division, said Trent Faris, spokesperson for the sheriff’s office. The employee is quarantining at home, Faris said.
Since the pandemic began, four employees from the sheriff’s office enforcement division have tested positive, Faris said. Two employees in the detention division tested positive earlier this summer, he said.
The office has more than 350 employees.
Police and law enforcement agencies at times have contact with other people as part of their duties, but continue to use personal protective equipment, Faris said.
“Our leadership and staff here has worked diligently since the pandemic began to try and make sure our employees stay safe as they deal with the public,” Faris said. “We have also worked very hard at the county jail to ensure safety for inmates and the staff.”
No inmates at the York County Detention Center have tested positive since the pandemic began, Faris said. The county jail currently holds about 350 inmates. The jail population was above 400 before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, then dropped to a low of just over 200 in March.
One sergeant at the York Police Department tested positive for COVID-19 in early August but has since returned to work after a quarantine period and negative follow-up test, York police officials said.
Case counts in York County have dropped in the second half of August, according to the S.C Department of Health and Environmental Control. In July, York County averaged 60 coronavirus cases a day. In August, the county has reported more than 60 cases on three days.
The county has tallied more than 4,100 cases since March, DHEC officials said.
In Chester County, four jail employees at the jail tested positive in July and early August, said Grant Suskin, spokesperson for the Chester County Sheriff’s Office. Those employees have since returned to work and the law enforcement agency has not had any positive cases since then, Suskin said.
So far, no inmates have tested positive, Suskin said.
Doug Barfield, spokesperson for the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, said after a jail worker tested positive for the virus in early July, no other employees have gotten the virus since. No inmates at the county jail have tested positive, Barfield said.
Police departments in Rock Hill, Fort Mill and Lancaster have not reporter positive tests among employees in August, according to officials.
