Cook County juvenile detainees to be tested for COVID-19

More than 80 residents of the Juvenile Temporary Detention Center in Chicago will be tested for COVID-19, Cook County's chief judge announced Tuesday.

No one in the center's general population has tested positive for COVID-19, court spokesman Patrick Milhizer said in a prepared statement. However, seven of the center's 561 employees have tested positive, he said.

The detention center currently has 161 residents, down from 210 on March 15. Judges released 178 residents from March 16 through April 20. In that same period, 120 were admitted after arrest.

New juvenile detainees are tested for the virus and remain separate from the general population for 14 days. So far, three new residents tested positive, but had not been admitted to the general population by the time of the test, Milhizer said.

Residents chosen for this week's tests have been randomly selected or they reside in an area where employees who tested positive had worked, Milhizer said. Those who test positive will be separated from the general population for 14 days or until cleared by medical staff.