photo by: Mike Yoder/Journal-World File Photo

The Douglas County Jail is shown in this file photo from February 2015.

Seventeen active cases of COVID-19 have been reported among inmates in the Douglas County Jail as of Monday, according to the sheriff’s office.

In addition to 16 cases among inmates in the minimum-security housing unit, seven staff members have tested positive, as has one person in custody in a separate housing unit. The sheriff’s office expects to be placed on the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s list of COVID clusters in the state along with numerous other correctional facilities.

“We are implementing a plan for self-isolation among that housing unit and we will continue with testing and staying the course on other precautions with the hopes of controlling further transmission of COVID-19,” said Maj. Gary Bunting of the corrections division at the sheriff’s office.

The cases were discovered as part of the jail’s testing protocol set by KDHE. A cluster is defined as a facility with five or more active cases occurring in the last 14 days. The KDHE website lists 19 correctional facilities with active clusters in the state at the time of this report.