Sheriff's Office, jail hit hard by COVID-19

Hannigan's Notebook

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Sheriff's Office, jail hit hard by COVID-19

Jan 07, 2021

(Photo: Sheriff Botie Hillhouse)

This podcast was recorded at the Henderson County Justice Center on Wednesday, Jan. 6.

Henderson County Sheriff Botie Hillhouse and I sat down for our first podcast of 2021 this morning and the main topic was COVID-19. The Sheriff's Office has been hit hard.

After seeing just one positive case of COVID-19 in the jail through the first 10 months of the pandemic, there have been 18 inmates come up positive in the past couple of weeks. In addition, there are also 12 officers who are out because of COVID.

"It seems to be going fairly well," Hillhouse said. "I don't really have anybody that's critical. We've got the nursing staff and the doctors working with us. They are doing an excellent job."

In response to the increase in COVID-19 cases, Hillhouse said he has gone back to keeping a shift in reserve, quarantined at home, just in case.

In the podcast, he also explains how the Sheriff's Office would reach out to surrounding counties for help if staffing gets too thin.