By CHRIS COLLINS
Franklincountynow.com Staff Writer
(Greenfield, MA) — An off-duty officer at the Franklin County House of Correction has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Franklin County Sheriff Chris Donelan confirmed that the employee tested positive but has not had any contact with inmates or staff since.
“He was diagnosed by his own doctor while he was on vacation,” Donelan said. “The test came back positive and we did some back-tracking and determined his interaction with people before he left and we are pretty confident that we’re safe and there’s not going to be any spread in the facility because of it.”
Donelan said management and staff at the HOC have gone to great lengths to prevent the spread of COVID 19 since the earliest days of the pandemic.
“Going back to March 13, we locked this place down to visitors and have been working on a skeleton crew to reduce possible exposure in the housing units,” Donelan added.
Donelan says there is no evidence of contagion at the jail, and the officer will not return to the facility until he is deemed to be free of the virus.