Dear COBA Members;

As you all know we had an inmate test positive for COVID-19 last night.

This inmate was moved to NUMC and placed in isolation. The Health Dept was immediately dispatched to the Jail to investigate this event, decipher where he got the virus and what will be done for those potentially exposed. I again stress that any inmate in our custody that is found with the virus is still an inmate in our custody. This is what we do. We cannot give the inmate to someone else, and we cannot release him from our custody. As directed, all staff involved to the best of our knowledge completed Exposure Forms, including as I recommended, anyone who had secondary contact with someone who was in direct contact with that inmate. This is what we recommend, that's not from the Health Dept. See below in more detail, recommendations from our Workers Comp Attorney regarding language in Exposure Forms.  

The Health Dept has stated repeatedly that they will NOT test anyone who is not exhibiting symptoms, and they will not direct anyone to isolate themselves unless they believe there is reason to do so after their investigation. They may recommend it, but they do not direct it. If anyone does decide to self isolate without DOH or the County's direction they will not be covered under any Administrative Leave.  

Anyone who IS directed to self quarantine by the DOH or the County will be covered under Administrative Leave and nothing will be charged against their sick time, pay or SLA occurrences. This is what occurred today after investigation by the Health Dept. Seventeen Correction Officers were directed to not report to work and self isolate at home. In this instance the Health Dept contacted those Officers with direction on what to do and not do while they are on isolation. This does not mean that these Officers have the COVID-19 virus. It simply means that these Officers had direct contact and as per the Health Dept they were relieved of duty.  

As for what the Health Dept considers direct contact:

To be clear, this is not from their investigation into this particular case, but what we are being advised are the guidelines of the DOH.

Anyone who had close personal contact with the inmate during the time that he exhibited symptoms, not prior to exhibiting symptoms where he was not coughing, sneezing, excreting fluids, feverish etc. We have been advised that under those guidelines, anyone who walked past his cell doing a routine patrol is not considered to be in "direct contact". Anyone who searched him, went through his belongings, touched the inmate etc is deemed in direct contact.  

Six inmates who were considered to be in contact with this inmate were moved from their locations and are now housed in E01CD, which was setup as an isolation dorm. The cells those inmates were originally housed in were taken out of service and the Fire Safety Unit was directed to sanitize those cells.

As for other related issues today:

1.) The entire facility was placed on lockdown earlier today.

2.) There will be no inmate movement until further notice that is not Court ordered or due to an emergency matter.

3.) All Courts have been ordered closed with the exception of Arraignment Court where the County is discussing options of performing Arraignments via video to keep prisoners contained as much as possible between PD custody and our custody if they are remanded.

3.) The Sheriff has advised that he will be implementing an Emergency Response Team that will be capable of immediately responding to any incident that may arise within the facility.

4.) Sheriff's Dept personnel has been assigned to OEM to ensure that we are receiving everything necessary as the situation changes. OEM has lagged in their initial responses but these issues have been swiftly addressed.

5.) We have been asked many times about the Emergency Declaration by the County and the Clause in our contract re: Comp Time Off under extraordinary circumstances. I have had numerous talks with the County about this issue and hope to have it resolved in short order. For now, we recommend that everyone keep accurate records of all hours worked since the declaration of emergency and particularly since our Officers were directed to isolate earlier today.          

With regard to Exposure Forms documenting your potential exposure to the Coronavirus, please see below what our Workers Comp Attorney is recommending that you put on your forms to more fully explain your exposure event.  

"If you believe that you have come into contact with someone that has the Coronavirus, you should file an Exposure Form immediately with your Employer. In this form you must be explicit as to WHEN and WHERE you came into contact with the suspected Coronavirus patient/inmate. Also, because most staff don't have definitive knowledge that the individual actually has the virus, you must EXPLAIN IN DETAIL why you believe the individual has the COVID-19 virus. Example: The individual had a high fever; was in respiratory distress, coughing etc. Finally be sure to fully explain the level of your exposure. Ex: The individual sneezed on me; breathed in my face; touched me several times etc."  

Again, as I stated in yesterday's email, COBA is collecting a main database of copies of these Exposure Forms. You can scan and email any such docs to NCSCOBA@AOL.COM or Fax it to us at 516-822-8726, or you can drop it off at the Union Office. As always, keep a copy for yourself.  

Lastly, Sheriff Dzurenda released a memo today and asked if I would email it to our members regarding this crisis. Please see it below.

Look for further informational notices as events progress.

Brian Sullivan, COBA President

‍