The Bucks County Correctional Facility has been seeing a recent spike in COVID-19 cases.
Behind bars, an environment prone to easy spread of infections and illness, the county reported 47 inmate COVID-19 cases as of last week and one staff infection. Of those cases, 37 were of female inmates and 10 were of men, county spokesperson Larry King said.
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The county’s chief spokesperson said the “numbers increased significantly” over June.
Bucks County Department of Corrections data from July showed 712 inmates housed by the county.
In June, the county reported only four positive inmate cases, according to data obtained by LevittownNow.com.
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The number of cases in the lockup is the highest since January when there were 63 positives. The second highest number was in April of last year when there were 58 inmates who were ill with COVID-19, the data showed. There was also a flu outbreak last spring that caused additional illness.
King said inmates were being offered vaccinations if they wanted them. He said staff had multiple options to get vaccinated.
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The county did not provide data on how many prison staff members were vaccinated.
County corrections Director David Kratz, who recently took the top job, said fighting COVID-19 remains a priority for the department.
On Friday, President Judge Wallace Bateman issued an emergency order to conduct criminal proceedings, excluding trials, via video conferencing if the person is already in custody. The order, which runs through October 1, will cut back on the sheriff’s deputies having to transfer inmates between the prison in Doylestown Township and Justice Center in Doylestown Borough.
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The county courts have reinstituted a mask mandate for common areas recently.
Previously in the pandemic, the county’s courts used video conferencing to conduct numerous court hearings.
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