By Carol Vaughn —
One Northampton County Sheriff’s Office employee is in self-quarantine, with no reported symptoms as yet, and three more have returned to work after 14 days of quarantine with no symptoms, according to Northampton County Sheriff David Doughty.
“We’re still maintaining our emergency procedures and precautions to continue to keep our staff healthy and safe,” Doughty told the Northampton County Board of Supervisors at a special called meeting held electronically on Thursday, April 16.
The meeting was to address COVID-19 related matters.
Personal protective equipment supplies for the office “are holding right now, still slowly coming in. However, if the situation continues, I’m not sure that we will have enough to sustain our needs, but we’re okay for right now,” he said.
The call volume to the office has been steady, “with no major incidents since our last meeting,” Doughty said, adding there have been no additional reported violations of the governor’s executive order prohibiting gatherings of more than 10 people.
Call volume for animal control also is steady, “but not abnormal, with a wide variety of different complaints,” he said.
There have been no issues with operations at the Eastern Shore Regional Jail, according to Doughty, who said, “We are continuing to follow our emergency policies to protect our staff and the individuals that are in our custody.”
Inmates enrolled in the jail’s re-entry program will begin next week to assemble face masks, he said.
There are no issues with the courthouse, according to Doughty, who said some cases are being held despite the pandemic. He added, “And I would expect those numbers to increase, as we are experimenting with the option to conduct hearings through videoconferencing. This would eliminate the need to bring individuals over from the jail.”
Fewer than 10 people are being allowed to be in the courtroom during a proceeding, and the 6-foot social distancing requirement is being maintained in common areas in the courthouse, Doughty said.
“If you do have to come to the courthouse for a hearing, you may likely be asked to remain in your vehicle until your case is heard,” he said.
“We would also like to remind our citizens to travel only when necessary…and to maintain the suggested precautions, and to continue to practice social distancing,” Doughty said.
