An additional eight staffers at the Forsyth County Jail have become infected with COVID-19, along with two more inmates, according to the latest report from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
With the new numbers, the Forsyth County Jail has had a total of 116 COVID-19 infections, including 97 inmates and 19 staffers, in an outbreak that began at the end of November. The jail has the second-largest outbreak of COVID-19 among 21 correctional facilities listed in the DHHS report. Mecklenburg County Jail had the largest outbreak with 267 total COVID-19 cases.
The increase in COVID-19 cases comes after the Forsyth County Sheriff s Office tested 568 inmates in December. The jail also tested 210 staff members after 11 staffers had already tested positive. Just before Christmas, a total of 95 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19.
The first time John Elliott Neville s name appeared on the front pages of the Winston-Salem Journal was on June 27, seven months after his death.Â
At the beginning of the summer, Winston-Salem, like the rest of the country, witnessed people pouring out into the streets, angered at the death of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis who died on May 25 after a white police officer placed his knee on Floyd s neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd was unarmed and lying on the ground, handcuffed.Â
He is seen on a cellphone video, saying the words, I can t breathe. Â
John Neville said the same phrase at least 28 times over a three-minute period, as he lay on his stomach in a jail cell while detention officers piled on top of him in an attempt to remove his handcuffs. His feet were tucked up toward his buttocks. On July 8, the five detention officers and a nurse were charged with involuntary manslaughter â Lt. Lavette Maria Williams, 48; Cpl. Edward Roussel, 51, Officer
Sheriff Kimbrough Speaks about COVID-19 in the Forsyth County Jail
The number of inmates infected with COVID-19 at the Forsyth County Jail has jumped to 95 after four inmates were retested after results came back inconclusive and new inmates tested positive at the jail s intake, according to the county s health director and the sheriff s office.Â
The Forsyth County Sheriff s Office announced on Monday that after mass testing, 68 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19. The N.C. Department of Health and Human Services reported on Tuesday that 67 inmates at the jail had tested positive. It wasn t immediately clear why there was a discrepancy between the state and local numbers on Tuesday.Â
95 inmates at Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center have tested positive for COVID-19 yesweekly.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yesweekly.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Sheriff Kimbrough Speaks about COVID-19 in the Forsyth County Jail
âI was in prison, and you visited me,â said the teacher whose birth is celebrated on Friday in a parable, revealing a level of concern for the well being of even those who have been incarcerated for committing crimes.
Itâs a level that isnât always matched by his followers.
Sixty-eight inmates at the Forsyth County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19, the Journalâs Michael Hewlett reported earlier this week. Thatâs out of 568 inmates who were tested.
Eleven jail staff members have also tested positive.
Thatâs a 12% positivity rate, lower than the national average of 20%, Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough Jr. said. The infected inmates have been placed in separate cells in an assigned quarantine area, officials said.