COVID-19 CASES CONFIRMED AT WASHINGTON CO. JAIL
Updated Story @ 4:20 p.m.: Additional information has been released about the COVID-19 cases confirmed at the Washington County Sheriff's Office and County Jail.
Late this (Thursday) morning, Washington County Sheriff Otto Hanak released a form detailing the number of inmates and jailors with active positive test confirmation. The form, dated July 15th, stated there are three inmates that have tested positive, and four more that are pending test results.
Hanak added separately that two of those inmates are active cases, with another currently being treated offsite for the virus. Two jailors previously tested positive, but they have both recovered and are back at work. Seven inmates are not experiencing any symptoms, but are being isolated as a precautionary measure for 14 days. There have been no deaths attributed to the virus.
Hanak said the Sheriff’s Office consults almost daily with Washington County Health Authority Dr. William Loesch and Jail Medical Director Dr. Stuart Yoffe on a variety of COVID-19 concerns. He said their experience and knowledge about medical issues is “the best asset” available to the Sheriff’s Office, adding that with the jail being the county’s “greatest liability”, it will “continue to do everything humanly possible to reduce the spread of this virus” at the Sheriff’s Office and jail.
KWHI was able to speak with Dr. Yoffe this morning. He said he is very proud of what the Sheriff’s Office has done and how they have been proactive in protecting everyone in the jail. Dr. Yoffe said they are trying to prevent any prisoners from entering the jail with active cases. They are taking the temperature of anyone who comes into the jail, and sending anyone with COVID-19 like symptoms to the hospital to be evaluated. Those inmates that have contracted the virus are isolated, evaluated and tested regularly.
Dr. Yoffe said Baylor Scott & White Hospital in Brenham has been a great help as inmates can be taken to the hospital’s drive through clinic for testing. This keeps inmates and employees from having to be exposed to the ER. The inmates with positive cases in the jail are being treated with the appropriate medication and protocol for the disease. Dr. Yoffe said just like everyone else, he is waiting on the development of a vaccine.
Original Story @ 5:39 a.m.: The Washington County Sheriff’s Office and the County Jail now have cases of COVID-19.
Washington County Judge John Durrenberger has confirmed to KWHI News that there are cases of COVID-19 at the jail. Durrenberger said he doesn’t have any specific information other than that one of the first positive cases in a county employee was a patrol deputy. When asked about cases in his department and how they are being handled, Sheriff Otto Hanak had very little comment. He did say “Any COVID-19 related concerns to an immediate family of any inmate incarcerated in the Washington County Jail is addressed without delay while at the same time abiding by the federal laws and state guidelines.” When pressed for more specifics on what is being done to control the spread, Hanak said he could not comment further on this medical matter. He said “We have a medical doctor on staff who is overseeing all medical needs in the jail."
County Commissioner Joy Fuchs, who assists with medical issues for the County but is not connected to matters concerning jail medicine, said she would like to help, but the Sheriff doesn’t tell her much. Fuchs said the most accurate information would come from Sheriff Hanak or someone else at the Sheriff’s Office. KWHI has reached out to Chief Deputy Jay Petrash and Jail Captain Eric Hensley, but neither has responded. KWHI is attempting to contact Jail Medical Director Dr. Stuart Yoffe to get more information on what is being done to control the spread inside the jail and among the employees. A source has told KWHI that besides inmates in the jail, several deputies and investigators have tested positive for COVID-19.
You are spot on with your comment, Washington county sheriff department is behind times in many ways, the pay scale is 20 years behind, the uniforms are hideous, yes they may look pretty but totally not practical, the morale is unrealistically low, they have no K-9 unit but if you aren’t going to allow your officers to actually be proactive that would be a waste of time.
There are no specialized units within the department and that reflects antiquated management .
The discontent between the sheriff and the commissioners court will remain as long as arrogance and jealousy are are in the thought process of leadership .
My brother is now fighting for his life… They waited til the last minute to take him to the hospital. This is so sad…. And we can’t even visit him….
They place my son that has underlying health issues in a cell in quarantine because of symptoms. They put him in another cell to quarentine and he can’t even call me. My son has called me on a daily basis to check in since covid hit and now can’t call. I don’t know if he is ok or anything:
Reply to “Concerned”: It is absolutely NONE of your business to know anything about other people’s health or medical conditions other than that which they explicitly allow you to know. NONE. Not yours, the media’s or anyone else’s. Just as it’s none of my business to know about your health conditions.
Agreed 1000%! Using “Concerned(s)” logic, I want to know EVERY single illness, sickness, disease, mental problems, etc…..of EVERY single person in Brenham in order to feel safe. That is how far some want to take it and it’s ridiculous. You said it best, “It is absolutely NONE of your business to know anything about other people’s health or medical conditions other than that which they explicitly allow you to know.”
The cases been confirmed, two weeks ago they wasn’t telling any relatives of the cases when we called and asked. The Sargent which was a lady on duty had a very nasty attitude. They wouldn’t give us any information. That’s why I posted it to Kwhi because no one knew about it. I have a cousin whom is in there and is very ill and I’m wondering how they are handling these cases. Just because they’re locked up doesn’t mean thaey shouldn’t receive proper care. We paying for it any how with tax payers money. So why not take them to the hospital.
“We paying for it any how with tax payers money. So why not take them to the hospital.”
This sentence is a perfect example of what is wrong with our society today. It is taxpayer money so let’s just spend it since there is so much of it, REALLY! As someone who actually pays taxes to all levels of government unlike many who pay in and get more back than they pay, I actually pay taxes. I find this attitude is disgusting! I wish our elected officials would stop spending so much and focus on representing the citizens by spending money wisely, not like the “care less” (worded that way purposefully, because many could care less) attitude shown in the quote. Maybe people should stop committing crimes and then they will not have to worry about the dangers of jail or prison. I do not wish them to be sick, but seriously since when did anyone ever expect a jail to be a model for social distancing and virus protection.
Everyone is busy asserting their right to know while demanding many of us give up our rights by forcing us to wear masks and make other personal concessions. This virus is demonstrating the failure of our educational system because so many people are completely ignorant of how freedom and liberty are supposed to work. I am amazed and saddened by what I see happening in our country today.
So, how many in the Sheriff’s department actually has/had Corona virus? This article does a good job of talking around that fact. The protocols for handling these case are not subject to federal/state regulation and should be made public ASAP!!! Many news outlets are able to release number of confirmed cases, age range of those affected, and even their zip code without violating any HIPPA regulations. The county could very easily held liable if in fact the sheriff’s office staff is not properly handling their employees who have been diagnosed and have been in contact with those confined within the jail.
It does beg one to wonder, if the sheriff and county judge are willing to hide information on an event that prevalent in the news right now, what do they hid that is not in the news. Voters need to start taking notice of the issues in our county.
Wake up people. The virus is everywhere. Just because you don’t know exactly where it is or who has it is not going to protect you.
Stay clean, Eat healthy, Stay fit and you will be fine.
It’s good to have a little common sense in times like these.
Sheriff Hanak has made it pretty clear ever since he banned Dr Stark from the jail that it was HIS jail. That being said, he owns this incident. Good, bad or indifferent, we taxpayers are footing the bill.
So it isn’t just bluebell
Shouldn’t all positive reported cases be listed from Washington County EMS and reported publicly on THIS website? Why is there so much concern to call out individual offices? As an essential part of our community there is NO WAY this office can or will be shut down. Thank you officers for ALL YOU DO for our community.
I can assure you that the Sheriff of this county does not want the spread to continue just as any other person in the county or state for that matter. The office is doing everything possible to control the situation, but as we have all seen before the MEDIA portrays information as they want. This article is completely biased and portrays our Sheriff in a way that has not or has never been contingent with his actions and reputation. I personally do not want the public to know how many cases there are because it will insight fear that is completely unnecessary. As well as the criminals in this town taking advantage of anyone they know is not patrolling. With all the false information being put out there I would have expected better and less biased reporting from our local journalists.
Kay, KWHI is not trying to show bias in this or any other story. We learned about the COVID-19 cases in the jail and the Sheriff’s Dept., and attempted to get information about the number infected and how they were controlling the spread within inmates and employees. This morning we ran with the information we had so far. Since then we have updated the story as more information was supplied to us. At no time has the Sheriff spoken with us, despite our requests. He has sent us one or two sentence replies through text messages and email. Just because the virus has infiltrated his department does not mean he isn’t doing his job of protecting inmates and employees. However, the lack of communication just lengthened the time it took to get all of the information to the public.
People should know about this an Kay it’s not your job to decide what folks should or shouldn’t know. It couldn’t possibly create anymore fear than what’s already there.!
Positive cases have been in the sheriff’s department for over a week now and we are just now hearing about it. If the sheriff is not commenting on the matter, that says, to me, that he’s hiding something. Is he afraid that crime will spike, if he reports the number of deputies and jailers that are out. Crime doesn’t stop or spike, depending on the number of officers available.
Cover up! The tax paying public DOES NOT have the right to know. Small town corrupt politics. No wonder the Feds love coming to small towns.
Unfortunately it is misreported how many numbers are not positive.
How many people have mild or no symptoms with their positive tests.
If anyone is scared or worried, stay home, cover up,
Please, just stay home and let the rest of society move along.
Unbelievable the weak and scared general public in this country.
Man up y’all.
Life is rough.
You know why the Sheriff doesn’t tell her much? Because they fight him and deny him everything he asks for. That’s why seasoned deputies keep leaving the WCSO; they can make more money at other departments. It’s pretty bad when an officer can make more money at the junior college than at the county because the commissioners don’t want to give the deputies a decent wage.
Washington county “Transparency ” at it’s best. Or the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing!
As much as I dislike the Sheriff, I will have to agree that people’s medical conditions are none of the media’s business. The people involved in the the illness and their family are the only ones that need to know. The HIPAA laws are pretty simply stated, mind your own business. Until the test are proven to be accurate, we do not even really know if the information regarding test results are even accurate. Why does everyone think that they have to know everything about everyone else?? If you believe that mask are effective, then wear one and no matter who has what, you will be safe…right??
KWHI did not ask the Sheriff to disclose anyone’s medical conditions. We asked him to confirm that there were COVID-19 cases in the jail and among his employees (which we later confirmed through County Judge). And we asked him if there are cases, what was being done to control the spread among inmates and employees. We did not ask for names, number of positive cases, etc.
It is the public’s business to know of any and all case’s and where there located. What’s the purpose of the Covid website if not to keep us informed. I think that they asked all of the right questions with little to no response. Idk what’s up with this sherriff but again I remind you all to think long and hard when election time comes. We need change and it starts with the City and county leaders that at this present are doing nothing
City & County Mayor & judge should have months ago implemented the MASK. Too many gatherings, churches & bbqs continued for months w/no concerns. Sheriff Janak doing the job along w/his staff. Am sure per HIPPA laws there’s limit of info disclosure. The Mayor & Judge need to make smarter decisions….. Sheriff does his job. From before & times now our Sheriff gets limited support from some….I say SOME commissioners. Mrs.Fuchs ask for more info but she should know the law ….what can & cannot be made public. The phrasing of her comment shows disrespect for our Sheriff. Months ago mask & guidelines should have been in place….that’s her job as well as other City & County officials to put in place. Sheriff Janak & Dr. Joffee are handling the situation.
Other news outlets are publishing this data without any HIPAA violation, why do you think Washington County can not?
Start asking the hard questions to be an informed voter.