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Former Harris Co. Jail inmate reflects on first case of Monkeypox reported in jail
FOX 26 Reporter Tiffany Justice has more from one former inmate following the first reported case of Monkeypox inside the Harris County Jail.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - The first case of Monkeypox has been confirmed in the Harris County Jail, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced on Thursday.
Officials say the inmate has been in quarantine since entering the facility, but it still has many concerned.
RELATED: 1st Harris County Jail inmate positive for monkeypox, sheriff says
Marquita Casely-Hayford, the medical liaison for the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, says COVID-19 protocols are still strictly being followed.
"He was already quarantined in the new house observation without movement, so there is no possibility of, low possibility of spread," says Casely-Hayford. "Pods are set up single cell housing, there is no congregation in those pods."
Officials confirm lesions were found on the inmate’s body and contact tracing efforts have begun and are ongoing.
"Yeah, I just got out about a week ago,'' says Tyron Jones. "A friend of mine in the family said ‘hey, Harris County has a case of Monkeypox,’ and it kind of scared me, because I was just being released."
Tyron Jones, who was recently released, painted a different picture of inside the jail.
"What they’re doing is, they do make people quarantine. Everyone is quarantining, but the jailhouse is over packed," says Jones. "They had us in a pod with 20 different people, people close in together in a pod, before they made everybody quarantine."
Casely-Hayford said it is not believed, at this time, that the virus was contracted at the jail.
Fred Wind, who runs a boarding home, A New Direction Boarding and Care, tells FOX 26, he will be following this positive Monkeypox case closely.
"I'm very concerned right now, I will talk to the social worker when they come out here to see if there is something I need to be concerned with other residents," says Wind.