MONTPELIER, OH – The Williams County Health Department (WCHD) has confirmed additional positive cases of COVID-19 (coronavirus) within the past 24 hours in Williams County. The Williams County Health Department is conducting an investigation regarding the additional confirmed COVID-19 cases. The Williams County Health Department will not be sharing information about individuals under public health supervision for COVID-19 in our county. As is our normal practice when we monitor situations of infectious disease in the community, information will be shared as is necessary to protect the public while balancing individual privacy.
The Williams County Health Department is also working with the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio (CCNO) regarding positive cases among inmates within their facility. CCNO has been preparing for a possible outbreak of COVID-19 and has measures in place to reduce the impact among staff and inmates. Since the identification of COVID-19 among a staff member at CCNO last week, the Williams County Health Department, the Ohio Department of Health, and CCNO have been working to investigate and detect further cases of COVID-19 within the facility and limit the spread. Additional information regarding the case was released by the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio (CCNO) as shown in the statement below.
With COVID-19, many people appear to be asymptomatic or have mild symptoms and can spread the illness unknowingly; therefore, any time groups of people are together, it is highly likely the virus will have the opportunity to infect others. COVID-19 spreads quickly in facilities with high population density, especially in closed spaces such as cruise ships or jails. The Williams County Health Department will continue to update cases on the WCHD website: http://www.williamscountyhealth.org/health-education/covid-19-coronavirus/
Inmates at the CCNO have tested positive for COVID-19. CCNO continues to work with the Williams County Health Department to contain the outbreak. “Those inmates that were exposed have been placed in isolation and quarantined away from other inmates. We have provided PPE in an effort to contain the virus,” stated Executive Director Dennis Sullivan. Personal information on the inmates will not be released to protect individual privacy. The majority of the inmates that tested positive are not Williams County residents.