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More Than Dozen COVID Cases Among Incarcerated At Berkshire Jail, But None In Hampden, Franklin

The entrance to the Franklin County Sheriff's Office in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
Jeff Brown
/
Masslive / masslive.com/photos
The entrance to the Franklin County Sheriff's Office in Greenfield, Massachusetts.

In Berkshire County, at least 13 incarcerated people have tested positive for COVID-19 since late last month.

Six staff members have also tested positive. About half of those who tested positive for COVID in Berkshire County correctional facilities are vaccinated, according to the sheriff's office.

Other county jails in western Massachusetts currently have few cases or none at all.

In Hampden County, one correctional employee recently tested positive for COVID. But there are no current cases among the people incarcerated there. That's also true in Franklin County.

Sheriff Christopher Donelan said 80% of the incarcerated are vaccinated and 85% of staff. All staff are required to wear masks, and Donelan said they're also encouraged to be careful outside of work.

"To not engage in risky behavior, to follow protocols for social distancing and mask-wearing," he said. "And our officers are very good about that."

Donelan said Franklin County has about about 100 fewer people incarcerated than before the pandemic, which means there's more space to spread out.

In Berkshire County, the sheriff's office said 85% of the staff are vaccinated along with 60 to 65% of those who are incarcerated.

in Hampden County, 74% of staff and 52% of the men and women who are incarcerated are vaccinated, according to the sheriff.

Nancy Eve Cohen is a former NEPM senior reporter whose investigative reporting has been recognized with an Edward R. Murrow Regional Award for Hard News, along with awards for features and spot news from the Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA), American Women in Radio & Television and the Society of Professional Journalists.

She has reported on repatriation to Native nations, criminal justice for survivors of child sexual abuse, linguistic and digital barriers to employment, fatal police shootings and efforts to address climate change and protect the environment. She has done extensive reporting on the EPA's Superfund cleanup of the Housatonic River.

Previously, she served as an editor at NPR in Washington D.C., as well as the managing editor of the Northeast Environmental Hub, a collaboration of public radio stations in New York and New England.

Before working in radio, she produced environmental public television documentaries. As part of a camera crew, she also recorded sound for network television news with assignments in Russia, Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba and in Sarajevo during the war in Bosnia.
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