On Aug. 30, 2021, the Juvenile Services Division was notified that an employee in the juvenile detention facility tested positive for COVID-19. Following the notifications, in coordination with Public Health and Corrections Health, staff immediately acted by implementing pre-planned infectious disease protocols. These actions include:
- Quarantining impacted youth and staff.
- Restricting movement between units within the facility and limiting access to the impacted units to only essential detention and medical personnel.
- Testing of all youth in the specific unit where potential exposure was identified.
- Working closely with Multnomah County’s Public Health Officer and Communicable Disease response specialist to review case history, information, and protective actions. This includes contact tracing to assess personnel movement involving the individual during the 48 hours leading up to the positive notification.
- Meeting with health partners to review and analyze potential exposure and coordinate next steps.
The parents of the impacted youth were notified and all youth on that unit were tested.
Corrections Health notified us that no youth tested positive for COVID-19. The Juvenile Services Division is working side-by-side with public health COVID-19 experts, the Multnomah County Health Officer and Corrections Health as they monitor these individuals. Staff continue to follow mask, distance and disinfection protocols and youth in custody are routinely offered vaccines for COVID-19.
Multnomah County’s Juvenile Services Division takes the health of all youth and staff at the division extremely seriously. The latest positive case brings the total number of cases at the Juvenile Services Division to seven in the past 22 days — five employees and two youths. See previous post
Visitors to all Multnomah County facilities are reminded that masks are required.
For more information on COVID-19, including symptoms of which to be aware, please visit the County’s COVID-19 website, which has practical advice and information on testing and other guidance, or the Oregon Health Authority COVID-19 website or the US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention COVID-19 website.