Lincoln County Detention Center re-opens to visitors

Visitation re-opened on Monday for inmates at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

An outbreak of COVID-19 at the jail at the end of June halted visitation.

In an email from County Sheriff Darren Short, he wrote that all of the people who had to be quarantined were cleared.

The Sheriff’s Office received notice of its first confirmed positive case of COVID-19 in the detention center, according to a post on its social media page on June 28.

When further testing was done, it was learned that five inmates and one staff member tested positive for COVID-19 so far.

The county Sheriff's Office said it worked closely with the Lincoln County Health Department and followed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines for corrections to protect the public, inmates, staff and law enforcement officers.

According to the county Health Department, it worked to identify cases and any inmates, staff or public that may have had close contact with identified cases.

According to the Sheriff's Office, detention center staff worked to ensure the safety of inmates by reducing the risk of further exposure by implementing standard infection control measures, implementing physical distancing strategies where feasible and conducting frequent testing.

The outbreak at the jail came on the heels of a rise in cases in Lincoln County, as well as the state and nation.

According to the Lincoln County Health Department figures from July 8, one person had died from COVID-19, bringing the current number to 90 since the pandemic began in 2020.

County figures showed there were 43 new cases with 64 active and a total of 5,072 cases as of July 8. There were no current hospitalizations and 4,919 people had recovered.

According to numbers provided from the state Department of Public Health and Human Services, on June 24, Lincoln County had 27 new COVID-19 cases with 42 active. Then, it had a total of 4,929 cases and 89 deaths. At that time, one person was hospitalized.

The vaccination rate had a slight increase from 43% at the end of June to 44% as of July 8.

To schedule a COVID-19 vaccine, please visit https://www.mtreadyclinic.org. Click the “Find a Clinic” button, then enter Libby, Troy, or Eureka in the “Search by Name of Location” box.