McHenry County Jail quarantining six detainees with COVID-19

Six detainees at the McHenry County Jail were in quarantine Monday with COVID-19, a McHenry County Sheriff’s Office spokesman said.

Each of the six detainees was housed in the same block of the jail on local charges, not U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds, McHenry County Sheriff’s Deputy Tim Creighton said in an email.

“The last one tested positive last Thursday (April 1), so the quarantine period is rolling due to the testing of inmates weekly still,” Creighton said.

None of the COVID-19 positive individuals were newly admitted detainees. One had been vaccinated, Creighton said. It was not immediately clear whether the detainee was considered fully vaccinated at the time he or she tested positive.

An outbreak that began in February and was thought to be subsiding last month infected at least 35 people with COVID-19, according to the sheriff’s office.

The six most recent cases are being counted as part of the February outbreak, Creighton said, noting that the jail tests different sections throughout the jail each day. Since results for each block don’t return all at once, there is sometimes a delay in determining the exact number of positive cases on a given day, Creighton said.

The jail since has begun administering vaccines, and as of Wednesday, 67 detainees were fully vaccinated against the virus. Another three detainees have received their first dose of the vaccine, Creighton said.

Vaccinations also are available to ICE detainees who are being housed at the McHenry County Jail in Woodstock, police have said.

It was not immediately clear how many doses were administered among jail staff, who were not required to receive the vaccine, Creighton said.