Mahoning Valley - America has more people behind bars than any other nation, which poses a special challenge during the current coronavirus pandemic. The virus has been spreading in jails and prisons around the country, but locally extra efforts are being made to keep that from happening here.

Jails are closed communities where social distancing is nearly impossible. Administrators are taking extra precautions to help ensure the safety and well being of inmates and staff.
"We do monitor all of our employees with temperatures daily, and we monitor the inmate's temperature three times a day on each shift," Joe Dragovich, Chief Deputy for the Trumbull County Sheriff's Department, said.

Every new inmate is carefully screened before entering the building for any signs of illness or elevated temperature.
"Then, we will not accept that inmate.  We would call our medical staff; they will come out and assess if there are additional indicators we'll contact our jail physician," Dragovich said.
Inmates who are accepted are treated as if they have the virus and are quarantined for 14 days.  The same applies to any inmate showing signs of the flu or a cold.

"Currently, we have three in the medical unit that we are taking a close look at, but we have no confirmed cases in our facility as of yet," Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene said on Tuesday.

Mahoning county currently houses 360 inmates, Trumbull county 320 and Columbiana 90. All of those numbers are lower since the outbreak began, thanks to cooperation from the courts and law enforcement who are issuing more summons whenever possible.

"Local law enforcement has really done their part significantly to help us manage the population here. My count dropped dramatically, and my intake has dropped dramatically," Columbiana County Jail Warden, Tom Mackie said.

The main concern at all he jails is the shortage of personal protective equipment and the lack of available local testing.