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Luzerne County&rsquo;s prison system still has no known cases of coronavirus and continues to segregate incoming arrivals for 14 days to monitor them for symptoms, according to county Correctional Services Division Head Mark Rockovich.
				&ldquo;Our population is manageable at this moment,&rdquo; Rockovich said.
				In March, at the start of the pandemic, the average daily population was 668 at the Water Street prison and Reichard Street minimum offenders building, both in Wilkes-Barre.
				Attempting to free up space to quarantine inmate newcomers, county attorneys and the court launched an effort to release non-violent offenders with low-level charges, including nonpayment of child support and minor drug possession, officials said.
				By mid-April, the total inmate count was 481.
				In June, the average daily population was down to 385 &mdash; 344 at the prison and 41 in the minimal offenders building, according to that month&rsquo;s division head report.
				The newly released July report said the total average daily count was 420 last month &mdash; 328 at the prison and 92 in the minimal offenders building. It notes the increase at the minimal offender&rsquo;s unit stemmed from the opening of a second temporary medical observation area for two weeks to accommodate a large amount of daily intakes following the county&rsquo;s movement into the less restrictive coronavirus green phase.
				Rockovich said the county system also was forced to house about 30 inmates awaiting transfer to state because the state shut down acceptances at one point and then limited transfers.
				As of last week, the number of state inmates lodged in the county system was around 18, and the state is now accepting more and scheduling transfers more frequently, he said, noting these inmates must have a negative coronavirus test result before they are transferred.
				Mass testing has not been implemented in the county prison due to the cost and availability, he said.
				Increased cleaning and temperature checks and other screening of staff and inmates also remain in effect, he said.
				Visitors are still not permitted out of concern they will introduce the virus to staff and cause it to spread to other workers and inmates, he said, comparing it to a continued ban on in-person visits at nursing homes.
				&ldquo;We have people from all different communities in the county who would be coming into that visiting room, and we don&rsquo;t want to be the epicenter of spreading the coronavirus,&rdquo; Rockovich said.
				With visits prohibited, citizen Brian Shiner asked at a recent county council meeting if the prison will continue offering free phone calls for inmates to stay connected to those on the outside.
				Rockovich said the free calls will be reinstituted and covered by the inmate commissary fund. Inmates will have one or two free phone calls per week, he said.
				&ldquo;We&rsquo;re doing everything we can. The pandemic has increased stress for both staff and inmates,&rdquo; Rockovich said.
				County Manager C. David Pedri recently discussed proposed plans to use some of the county&rsquo;s coronavirus assistance funding to add heating and air conditioning in the prison gym in case it is needed for inmate housing in a coronavirus outbreak.
				Without modifications, the ground-floor gym is the same temperature as outside. A design is underway to estimate the cost as the county works with state officials on the project&rsquo;s eligibility for the funding, Pedri said.
				In addition to serving as quarantine space for new arrivals, the gym could house a makeshift medical unit, providing onsite treatment instead of requiring inmates to be transported to the hospital with as many as three correctional officers necessary round-the-clock, Rockovich said.
				The gym is large enough to allow 30 cots with social distancing and barriers between them, Rockovich estimated. Venting could be designed to move air out of the gym so it is not recirculated throughout the prison, he said.
				Showers and restrooms also would be needed for the gym, he said.

Luzerne County continues efforts to keep coronavirus out of the prison