ALFRED — All but two of the 17 corrections staff at York County Jail in Alfred who tested positive for COVID-19 have recovered, York County Manager Greg Zinser told York County commissioners on Wednesday, Sept. 16, and the two who hadn’t had minor symptoms. Zinser said one of the officers was expected to return to work on Sept, 21.

Of the 48 inmates who have tested positive, only four remain within their quarantine period, said Zinser. He said those four were moved to the jail medical unit, “not because of symptoms, but because of spacing issues,” at the jail. As of Sept. 16, no inmates required hospitalization, Zinser added. He said he expected the inmates to be cleared by Sept. 18.

County staff met earlier in the day with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Corrections. Zinser said all CDC guidelines, including mask wearing, are being followed.

Zinser updated commissioners as York County Sheriff William King asked for an extension of the current jail state of emergency declaration, which allows corrections staff to work up to 72 hours a week. When there is no declared emergency, corrections officers may work up to 56 hours a week under the terms of their union contract; the declaration allows them to be ordered to work an additional 16 hours, Zinser explained.

Corrections officers are voluntarily filling shifts, King said.

 The corrections staff earn double pay starting at hour 41 of their work week under a declared emergency, and receive further financial incentives if they give up vacation days or voluntarily surrender days off — $100 per shift, as well as their regular or double time pay, Zinser said.

While corrections staff who had previously tested positive are now returning to work, Zinser said it is his understanding that the state of emergency extension is due to the need to separate and space inmates within the jail.

York County Jail was housing 89 inmates at the Alfred facility as of Sept. 16. Several other York County inmates are housed at Cumberland County Jail, through a longstanding agreement that predates coronavirus, brought on by corrections staff vacancies over the last year or more. The York County Jail facility is currently not accepting new inmates due to coronavirus; all new arrestees have been diverted to the Cumberland County facility.

Zinser noted that fewer people are being arrested in York County.

Back in April, King asked all York County police chiefs to use their discretion protocols, when applicable, to determine the necessity for a custodial arrest, and they did — issuing summonses rather than making arrests for some crimes.

The first positive coronavirus tests at York County Jail came Aug. 19, according to a Portland Press Herald report. A corrections officer was among those attending an Aug. 7 wedding and reception in the Millinocket area; that event is associated with 176 positive tests results in the state, said Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah in a Sept. 15 update. Shah said seven people had died as the virus spread from attendees to others, who then had contact with those who have since passed away.

As well as inmates and corrections staff, two other York County government employees who tested positive did so because of community transmission, and the Maine CDC removed those numbers from the jail count, Zinser said.

Zinser said several family members of corrections staff have tested positive for COVID-19.

One individual, a vendor at the jail, had tested positive, and as of Sept. 16, the CDC had been working to determine if the exposure had been at the jail or through community transmission. In a Sept. 21 update, King said the CDC has attributed that case to exposure at the jail. Two rounds of negative testing and 28 days from the last positive test must pass before the facility is cleared to reopen.

The county manager thanked all who had worked throughout the situation, and made particular mention of the county’s emergency management agency and HazMat team for their continued decontamination efforts at the jail, and to the sheriff and current jail administrators for their work.