People with loved ones held in Lancaster County Jail will be able to visit them again from February 28 as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to decline.
Trips to the prison have been suspended since August 2021 after a number of inmates tested positive for COVID-19. Since then, the prison has offered visits only once, during the Christmas week.
As of Thursday, Lancaster County Jail had four positive COVID-19 cases, said Deputy Chief William Aberts. There were 124 positive cases in January.
Most of the positive cases were among people who were just starting to stay in jail, said Deputy Chief Joe Schaefer.
As the number of cases in Lancaster County and in prison decreases, it is important to restart all services such as visiting to “have a safer facility,” Slate added.
“Now everyone thinks it’s been a long time, we need to give something back to the prisoners,” Aberts said. “Visits are very important to them.”
Anyone wishing to visit a prisoner should plan to do so for at least one day and on the day when a visit to a residential home for prisoners is planned. Visits on Saturday, Sunday or Monday must be scheduled on Friday earlier.
To schedule a visit, call the jail from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. any day Monday through Friday at 717-299-7800 and select option 1. Prisoners are only allowed two visitors per visit, and visitors must be on an approved list of inmate visits.
People who have recently begun to be held in prison may be denied access to visitors if they are still undergoing a quarantine process to avoid the spread of COVID-19 indoors.
Since August, 401 inmates have tested positive for the virus. Approximately 6,000 people are imprisoned or released each year. The county requires a prison mask for everyone, regardless of a person’s vaccination status.
https://lancasteronline.com/news/lancaster-county-prison-reopening-for-visitation-for-first-time-since-august-2021-only-has-4/article_7e3a04a0-90f1-11ec-825b-d7214e6b7cb0.html
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