PAINTSVILLE, Ky. (WYMT) - Through the COVID-19 pandemic, jails and nursing homes have been places of concern. One of the jails in our region taking precautions is the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center.
For the last four months, keeping the jail clean has been the top priority.
“When this hit it just upped that level of cleaning so, of course, we had inmates doing hands-on cleaning Lysol, bleach,” said Jail Administrator Byron Hansford.
Hansford wanted to know if he could do anything else to protect his inmates from the virus, so he did some research and purchased an ultraviolet light machine.
“After getting here it’s about a $4,000 purchase but we’ve got a pretty good board and they’re concerned about the jail and they approved the purchase,” said Hansford.
The machine is turned on in a jail cell for about 30 minutes while the inmates are out of their cells for recreation. No one can be in the room while the machine is on, as the light is dangerous to a person’s health.
“We set it in a timer it’s 15, 30, 45 minutes. If something happened when you did have to go in there before it kicked off then once you open that door and you step in it’s going to kick off with the motion sensor,” said Hansford.
They plan for each cell to be disinfected with the machine several times a week, as well as in detox where they receive new inmates.
“It would be used a little more as people go out of there and we’re going to obviously put it in there as often as we can,” said Hansford.
UV light has been used to kill viruses for years. There are three types of UV light UVA, UVB and UVC. The first two are found in the atmosphere. The third is blocked by the ozone layer and is dangerous to a person’s health if directly exposed.
While studies are still ongoing on the effectiveness of UVC light against COVID-19, it will still help fight other bacteria.
“When you’re in a jail the least amount of germs I mean you’re in an environment where there’s several people so the spread of germs is obviously a problem so anytime you can fight those germs and kill them and not get something you know circulating in your jail it’s going to help not only us but the county’s hospital bills and all this stuff,” said Hansford.
The jail has not had a case of COVID-19. Hansford did tell WYMT he does have empty cells to be able to isolate people if someone would test positive.
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July 16, 2020 at 05:43AM
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Local jail buys ultraviolet light machine to help fight COVID-19 - WYMT
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