Breaking News! First Maverick County Inmate Tests Positive for COVID-19, Tom Bowles Detention Center Currently Has 175 Inmates
By: Miguel Munoz, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2020
In an exclusive interview with Maverick County Sheriff Tom Schmerber at 6:25 P.M. on Friday, July 31, 2020, Sheriff Schmerber confirmed to the Eagle Pass Business Journal that an inmate at the Tom Bowles Detention Center in Eagle Pass, Texas tested positive for COVID-19 today after being tested either Tuesday, July 28 or Wednesday, July 29 at the Fort Duncan Regional Medical Center.
According to Sheriff Schmerber, the male inmate has been in detention at the Tom Bowles Detention Center since March 2020 in an isolation cell and was asymptomatic for COVID-19 but the Sheriff’s Office proceeded to test the inmate as a precaution. Sheriff Schmerber stated the inmate’s test results were returned this morning (Friday, July 31) stating that COVID-19 was “detected,’ meaning that “it was positive.” The nurse at the Tom Bowles Detention Center on duty this morning immediately notified Sheriff Schmerber of the inmate’s positive test results, who in turn notified the 365th Judicial District Court of the Honorable Amado J. Abascal, III and all other people who were present at a Court hearing with this inmate on Wednesday, July 29, 2020.
Sheriff Schmerber stated that the inmate had a scheduled Court hearing on Wednesday, July 29, with 365 Judicial District Court Judge Amado J. Abascal, III and the Sheriff’s Office nurse had notified the Detention Center’s medical doctor to seek consultation whether the inmate could go to the Court hearing after being tested. Schmerber added that the nurse received clearance from the medical doctor for the inmate to travel to Court for his scheduled hearing and was transported by two Deputy Sheriff’s working as Transportation Officers to the 365th Judicial District Court in Eagle Pass.
Sheriff Schmerber noted that the Sheriff’s Department notified the Court of the inmate having been tested and was awaiting his results.
Judge Amado J. Abascal, III rescheduled the inmate’s Court hearing to a future date in light of the pending test results.
After receiving the inmate’s confirmed positive COVID-19 test results today, Sheriff Schmerber notified Judge Abascal’s Court of the inmate’s positive infection with coronavirus as well as all other individuals who were present in the Courtroom at the time the inmate was at the courthouse.
Sheriff Schmerber pointed out that the inmate was returned to his isolation cell to avoid any potential spread of the coronavirus within the inmate population and detention center staff.
Schmerber noted that the Sheriff’s Department personnel went to the 365th Judicial District Courtroom, located at 501 Main Street in downtown Eagle Pass, to disinfect the courtroom and courthouse. He added that the Sheriff’s Transportation Van used to transport the inmate to the Courthouse was also disinfected.
Schmerber has requested all persons who had contact or got close with the inmate be tested for COVID-19 to determine if anyone was infected by the inmate, including the Deputy Sheriffs, Judge Abascal and his Court personnel, Court Bailiff, Court Reporter, District Attorney Office Assistant District Attorneys and Investigators, all other legal counsel, and people who were present in the Courtroom while the inmate was inside the courthouse.
Earlier this week, Sheriff Schmerber announced that two jailers and one Deputy Sheriff had tested positive for COVID-19 and that more than likely had become infected while on vacations.
The fact that one inmate has tested positive for COVID-19 at the Tom Bowles Detention Center is significant because of the potential infection of all other 175 inmates, jail staff, and Sheriff Department personnel and creating a public health crisis in Maverick County.
Sheriff Schmerber stated that upon learning today of the inmate’s positive COVID-19 test result, he contacted Eagle Pass and Maverick County Emergency Operations Center Co-Director Leopoldo “Polo” Vielma to advise him of the positive test and to request the Texas National Guard medical team immediately come to the Tom Bowles Detention Center to test all of the inmates. As of press time, Sheriff Schmerber has not yet received a reply from the Texas National Guard medical team.
A majority of the inmates at the Tom Bowles Detention Center are contracted with the U.S. Marshal’s Service as federal pre-trial detainees awaiting their court proceedings at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Del Rio Division, in Del Rio, Texas. Federal pre-trial inmates housed at the Tom Bowles Detention Center are both males and females.
According to the Eagle Pass and Maverick County Emergency Operations Center and Local Health Authority Dr. Victoriano Valdez, any person who has been tested for COVID-19 “are considered a suspected case of COVID-19…As such, you are required to remain in your home until you receive notification from the Local Health Authority to resume normal activities….the purpose of the actions…[is] to prevent this virus from spreading to others.”
Each person who is tested for COVID-19 in Maverick County is hand-delivered a letter stating the requirements of each person until they receive their test results back and are notified by the Local Health Authority what to do next depending on the results.
The Eagle Pass and Maverick County Local Health Authority Dr. Victoriano Valdez’s letter expressly provides that “the Texas Department State Health Services Public Health Region 8 and the Local Health Authority require that you do the following: 1) Remain in your residence (‘self-isolated’) until you receive notification from the Local Health Authority to resume normal activities; 2) Stay in a specific room and away from other people in your home and use a separate bathroom, if available. If you need to be around other people in your home, keep a distance of 6 feet and wear a face mask; 3) Measure and record your temperatures twice daily for the duration of your self-isolation period; 4) Monitor yourself for symptoms of respiratory illness (fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, etc.) for the duration of your self-isolation period; 5) Maintain communication with the Local Health Authority for the duration of your self-isolation period; and 6) If you require urgent medical care, notify the clinic or hospital prior to arriving.”
The Local Health Authority Dr. Victoriano Valdez’s Letter admonishes each person tested for COVID-19 that “knowingly refusing to perform or allow the performance of certain control measures ordered by a health authority is a criminal offense under Texas Health and Safety Code. The Local Health Authority is also allowed by law to enforce these control measure by means of court orders for management of persons with communicable diseases.”
These prevention measures also apply to inmates as well as private and public citizens.
