WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WAVY) — The Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail in Williamsburg is adjusting its procedures to keep staff and inmates safe.
Those new guidelines come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Virginia Department of Health.
- All officers and staff inside the ‘secure perimeter’ are now required to be masked at all times. The measures aim to reduce the opportunity for the spread of COVID-19 from those coming and going from the facility. All newly-committed inmates will be masked upon their entrance to the facility and will remain so during medical observation and quarantine.
- VPRJ officers and staff continue to have their temperature checked and receive medical clearance before their shift.
- VPRJ is quarantining newly-committed inmates for a period of 14 days upon their arrival to the facility. After 14 days, inmates are allowed to process into a general housing unit.
- All inmates who leave their assigned housing units for any reason will wear masks, including for direct contact meetings with attorneys and those who present for video court appearances.
- The lobby remains closed to members of the general public. In-person family and friends visitation is suspended through at least Friday, April 30.
- Movement throughout the facility of both staff and inmates has been restricted as much as possible in an effort to reduce the opportunity for exposure to illness.
- Efforts to continually clean and disinfect are in effect for both staff and inmates.
“We understand this is a very stressful time for not only the inmates committed to our custody, but for their family members and friends on the outside who have not been able to interact with their loved ones the way they are normally accustomed to doing,” said Superintendent Colonel Witham. “We remain committed to the inmates in our custody and care, and to their family and loved ones, that we will do everything we possibly can to ensure the health and safety of those incarcerated at VPRJ as we continue to work through this pandemic.”
Those with questions can call the jail at 757-820-3900.
Latest Posts:
- Madigan’s successor resigns on his third day over “alleged questionable conduct”
- Missing Virginia Beach woman with cognitive impairments last seen Tuesday
- Virginia GOP will hold drive-in convention at Liberty University to nominate statewide candidates
- Newsfeed Now: FDA finds Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine effective and safe; veterinarians say six-legged puppy ‘a miracle’
- Virginia Feb. 24 COVID-19 update: 149 new deaths reported as VDH continues to input data; Cases and hospitalizations down
