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By: Reporter Staff

Niagara County Acting Sheriff Michael J. Filicetti announced that a Civilian Support Staff employee of the Niagara County Correctional Facility has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. The employee’s symptoms were identified through our employee health screening process which is performed before any employee is authorized to enter the facility.

When the symptoms were identified, the employee was not allowed entrance into the facility and was advised to contact a health care provider for further guidance. This screening process was instituted in the early stages of this pandemic to ensure the safety of our employees and inmates at the facility.

Upon learning that this employee had developed symptoms, the work area was completely cleaned and disinfected prior to allowing anyone else into the area. Fortunately, this employee works in the same area of the facility each day and has limited contact with other employees or inmates. Cleaning has been enhanced in all areas of the facility to follow health department guidelines.

The Sheriff’s Office has partnered with the Niagara County Health Department to ensure that testing is available to any staff member showing symptoms. This is the second employee of the Correctional facility to test positive for Covid-19. Since the start of this pandemic, a total of twelve employees have been tested.

In our continuing efforts to protect the staff and inmates, we have instituted the mandatory wearing of surgical masks by all correction officers and staff who are unable to maintain proper social distances because of the nature of their work.

Acting Sheriff Filicetti stated, “The safety and health of our staff and inmates continues to be my number one priority. I am grateful to our staff for remaining diligent in trying to prevent COVID-19 from entering the Niagara County Correctional Facility.” Acting Sheriff Filicetti is also pleased to announce that our Corrections Officer who tested positive last week has recovered from the virus and will be returning to work next week.