Maine’s county jails are implementing stricter precautions in response to an outbreak at a jail in the southern part of the state, the commissioner of the Maine Department of Corrections said Wednesday.
One of the largest outbreaks to hit the state has centered around the York County Jail in Alfred. State officials have said an employee of that jail attended a wedding in northern Maine where the virus spread and then returned to work.
A state inspection later found that mask use and screening were not universal at the state’s 15 county jails. All inmates and staff members are now required to wear masks, corrections commissioner Randall Liberty said. Screening staff members for symptoms is now also universal, he said.
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“They are working diligently to correct those deficiencies,” Liberty said. “We’ve had really good participation and collaboration with the sheriffs.”
The state inspection also found that most jails lacked diversion plans about where to send inmates in case of an outbreak. Liberty said those plans are now being developed and implemented.