ALBANY — The county jail is under a lockdown, there were 173 new cases overnight and four more deaths.
According to a report on Channel 6, Sheriff Craig Apple said there is an outbreak at the jail and it is locked down for 30 days which began on Tuesday. Fifty-nine inmates and 24 correction officers have tested positive, according to Channel 6, and 270 are under quarantine.
The lockdown means prisoners cannot circulate through the jail and there are no in person meetings with inmates and their attorneys.
“It’s a congregate setting. It’s like a nursing home. Once it got in, it got in,” Apple told Channel 6.
He is working with District Attorney David Soares to release some non-violent prisoners who test negative for COVID and the DA told Channel 6 he has agreed to delay the sentencing of some who were headed to the jail.
Meanwhile, there were 173 new cases of COVID-19 in Albany County from Tuesday to Wednesday bringing the total to 16,236 since the pandemic began in March.
Of the 48,497 people who completed quarantine, 14,488 tested positive and recovered, an increase of 215 overnight.
There were 21 new hospitalizations overnight. As of Wednesday, there were 185 residents hospitalized, a net decrease of one from Tuesday.
Four people died overnight — two men in their 50s, a man in his 80s and a woman in her 90s. The death toll in Albany County is now 283.
