Kane jail sees spike in COVID-19 cases among detainees

The Kane County jail is dealing with a spike in COVID-19 cases among detainees.

Sheriff Ron Hain said Wednesday that 30 detainees - about 8% of the population - have tested positive for the disease.

Of those 30, 27 were not vaccinated, he said.

Detainees are not being taken to court unless it is absolutely necessary, Kane County Judge John Barsanti told lawyers at a pretrial hearing Wednesday afternoon. Defendants instead are appearing via Zoom.

The Lake County jail had an outbreak in November that infected about 100 detainees and workers. Authorities said Tuesday it has subsided, with just two workers and three detainees remaining in quarantine.

The DuPage County jail has one detainee sick with COVID-19. They were experiencing symptoms when they were admitted last week, said the sheriff's operations administrator, Dawn Domrose. They were placed in respiratory isolation, and won't be put in to the general population until they are no longer exhibiting symptoms.

At DuPage, all incoming detainees are put in to a 14-day quarantine as a precaution. Vaccines are offered to detainees.

In Cook County, 149 of 5,649 inmates are positive for COVID-19. Another 999 are no longer positive and being monitored.