Marshall County Sheriff Matt Hassel presented an update to the Marshall County Council this week on jail operations pertaining to COVID-19.
Sheriff Hassel noted that he received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Hassel said, “I didn’t have any real ill effects from either shot. Most of my employees have done it – especially the jail staff. I think with all of the COVID that hit our jail in late December I think the staff knew right away ‘we’re going to protect ourselves however we possibly can.’”
He commented that often times his jail staff members were like “healthcare workers”.
“When they walked back into that jail they had gowns, shields, masks, gloves – everything on, and still I had at least five jail employees that became positive with COVID.”
He said inmates are still being tested with the last inmate testing positive on January 5.
Hassel continued, “Our new inmates are left in quarantine still for the full 14 days. I know some rules have changed on that. We keep them there for 14 days and then we’ll test them before we move them into the General Population. We’re doing a really good job of keeping it out of our jail that way.”
While some inmates showed symptoms of COVID-19 in late December of 2020 when testing was conducted by the State’s Strike Team, he said many of the inmates who tested positive did not display any symptoms.
Hassel said he has supplied the Marshall County Health Department with a current number of inmates at the jail on a regular basis. He added that Public Health Officer Dr. Byron Holm’s distribution of supplements helped those who were ill.
